Hiyori Sarugaki! Path of Darkness
by dragonballzlover2499
Summary: Sequel to Hiyori Sarugaki Weilder of the X-Blade. 10 years have passed and Hiyori is still floating through space battling Miyori, but when she strikes up a deal with her hollow, she rockets to a familiar set of islands where she meets a brown haired boy. Will she be able to keep Riku safe from the darkness? Or will the darkness overwhelm them both? Read to find out.
1. prolougue

me: Hey, I'm having a little writer's block with R+V next gen so here's the sequel to my first multi-chapter story Hiyori Sarugaki Weilder of the X-Blade. Enjoy! Music is Sora's theme.

Edit: Me: I own nothing, I found some errors that I corrected. Only change is that it was seven years instead of ten.

* * *

Ten years ago today, four warriors faced the darkness and won by sacrificing themselves to keep the realm of light safe from the darkness. Now, the warriors are still asleep and are destined to stay asleep for several years to come, well almost all of them are.

In the middle of a void in a girl's heart, two young looking girls are fighting; not with fists, but with elegant blades in the shape of giant keys. Both of the girls look to be about twelve, and are perfect mirrors of each other. The first had blonde hair in twin pig tails that hung down and brushed her shoulders with bangs clipped back using small barrettes, and hazel eyes. She was wearing a dark sleeveless shirt and a black and white jacket with a heart shaped clasp keeping the jacket shut, an odd piece of armor on her shoulder, a pair of two toned baggy pants, and what looked to be armored street shoes. What made her outfit unique however was the many red paint splatters covering the majority of her clothes except for her dog tag necklace that had the kanji for monkey on one side and an S on the other. The other girl looked exactly like the first, only instead of the bright reds of the paint and blonde hair, the girl was only shades of gray.

The two fought like an elegant dance, every misstep greeted with a sharp hiss or a muffled curse. They danced on a large, circular platform with images of them fast asleep and four circles containing several boy's faces, one face in each circle. The first, a blonde young man with a bowl cut, a bad over bite, and warm brown eyes. The next had messy, spiky blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and a kind smile. The next had messy spiky brown hair, eyes the color of the sky one a nice day, and a goofy grin, and beared a great resemblance to the second boy. The last boy could've been the second's twin, save his eyes, which were war-hardened, and his mouth which was set in a determined frown.

The blonde counted down in her head, _one, two, three_ CRASH!

She cursed loudly at the other girl before beginning a rant, "Do you have to do that every time Miyori?"

"Oops, sorry." the gray girl, now identified as Miyori, called back to the blonde.

"No you're not 'cus yer' just gonna' do it again!" the blonde shouted back as the girls floated in mid air.

"Geeze Hiyori, I think this place is gettin' to ya'." Miyori said calmly.

"It is not!" Hiyori shouted back, "We haven't been here that long."

"Hey, Hiyori, how long do you think we've been here for?" Miyori asked, her ever-present demonic grin gone.

"Uh, a couple hours? A day max." Hiyori asked now a bit concerned.

At this, Miyori busted out laughing, "Bwahahaha! A, a few hours? Hahahaha! M-more like s-seven years! Hahahaha!"

"What the hell do you mean?" Hiyori said, starting to chase Miyori around the platform.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh! Psycho midget tryin' to kill me! Help! Someone! Anyone!" Miyori shouted as Hiyori continued to chase her.

*music begins to play*

*Hiyori Sarugaki, Wielder of the X-Blade flashes.*

*A bright flash of light.*

*Hiyori Sarugaki, Path of Darkness*

*music ends*

Finally, the two settled down and collapsed on their backs.

"So, why exactly didn't you feel the need to mention that tiny little detail dumbass?" Hiyori asked, scowling.

"I thought you knew, I mean, who couldn't notice seven years passing?" Miyori asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Do me a favor and tell me how many times in the past several centuries I've gotten brain damage? My sense of time isn't exactly picture perfect! Plus, if you weren't checking that damn watch every thirty seconds, you would probably have a pretty screwed up sense of time to!" Hiyori shouted, agitated.

"Alright, alright, chill. 'Sides, the watch is freakin' steam punk!" Miyori shouted, grinning and holding her wrist with her watch on it.

"Remind me to never let you watch those movies ever again. How much longer do you think you can last?" Hiyori asked, beginning to sit up.

"Keh, with all these talk breaks we take, we both should be able to last a few more years," Miyori said, sitting up with her other half.

"Well isn't there any other way?" Hiyori asked, her scowl softening and her eyes losing their hard edge.

Ven, Terra, Aqua. The thought of her friends made her eyes soften further, giving them a vulnerable look.

_Wh-what if Aqua lost against Braig? Terra, Xehanort could've used the darkness within Terra against him. Ven, wh-what if Ven... No! Don't think like that Hiyori! You can't think like that_, Hiyori thought, becoming more worried by the minute.

"Oi', are you still with me midget?" Miyori asked, for once in a kind tone.

"I'm just thinking." Hiyori mumbled, now worry evident on her face.

"About them huh? Why don't you ever think about Shinji and the gang?" Miyori asked, throwing an arm around Hiyori in a sisterly way.

"I know they can take care of themselves, Terra, Ven, and Aqua, well the boys at least will get themselves into trouble and Aqua'll get in trouble while trying to help. It's funny you know, I think I've gotten soft recently, making friends, falling for Ven, just in general, you know?" Hiyori said, smiling softly, "When I get back, Shinji's gonna' shit a brick now that I've gotten taller."

"Haha, yeah, but the boys aren't that bad." Miyori said as they looked at each other before laughing.

"Okay, so they're pretty bad, but at least they're cute, well, Ven is, we both know that Aqua'd murder us if we said that. Now, about what you said, there is one way to get out of our little... situation." Miyori said.

"There was a way this whole time... and you didn't think it might've been a good idea to tell me?" Hiyori screamed as she bolted up and began to chase Miyori around the platform again.

"Wait, wait, wait! I had a good reason so stop chasing me for a second damn it!" Miyori shouted just before she tripped over her x-blade allowing Hiyori a chance to straddle the other girl's stomach and begin to choke her.

"W-wait, if you d-don't l-let me g-go, I c-can't t-tell you how to g-get out of here," Miyori choked out.

"Remind me, didn't I just have to beat you? Ugh, fine, but you owe me dumbass." Hiyori said as she loosened her grip on the other girl's neck.

Miyori gasped for air dramatically before slowly standing up and eyeing Hiyori warily.

"Okay," Miyori began, "one of us can forfeit control of the body, but at a price."

"What's the price?" Hiyori asked as the girls sat down again facing each other.

"In order to forfeit control, an exchange has to be made, in this case, your memories. You can keep one memory though, just nothing seriously important that's a big impact on your life like your first hollowfication." Miyori told her.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" Hiyori asked, her face showing she was deep in thought.

"*sigh* It's a last resort. If we do this, there is a high chance of your heart being badly fractured. You might not even be able to use my skills when fighting. Another thing, like you said, you've been through a lot of brain damage recently, much more and you might end up in a coma, then you'd be stuck with us for the rest of eternity. Overall, I thought there were to many risks involved and I thought if we could settle things the normal way, we could just laugh about this way later. Sorry chibi." Miyori told Hiyori, a sad look on her face.

"Okay, well I suppose there's no other way, but why don't you be the one in control?" Hiyori asked.

"We know how you react with amnesia, but we have no idea how I'll react." Miyori said, "Just try not to fall for someone this tie around, 'kay?"

"Oh shut up baka. So, what do I have to do?" Hiyori asked while glaring at Miyori.

"First, do you have a memory picked out?" Miyori asked while standing up.

"Yeah, now what?" Hiyori answered while standing up as well.

"Just concentrate on the memory and I'll take care of the rest. You ready Hiyori?" Miyori asked.

"Ready when you are," Hiyori answered as she thought of her chosen memory.

It was right before Kisuke was promoted to captain. As the captains were coming to the first division's barracks, Hiyori had kicked Shinji and was pulled off by Love. Aizen was there to, back before he'd proved himself to be a traitor.

Hiyori thought about the memory and watched it replay in her head. It was as if she was there. It seemed like the perfect memory; it looked like it was set in feudal Japan so at first it would seem like a dream, but it would keep gnawing at the back of her mind so she'll keep thinking about it. Hopefully it could act as a trigger memory.

Suddenly, the area started to fade. The platform slowly shattered into shards of light leaving the girls standing in mid air. The key blades that were now floating as well, faded in light next.

"Bye albino," Hiyori said, sadness in her eyes at the loss of her long time partner and friend.

"See ya' soon chibi," Miyori whispered as a tear slipped down her cheek before grinning.

_She's in for a big surprise when she finds out what Ven left her_, Miyori thought as she faded away to, leaving Hiyori in a sea of light.

* * *

me: Please reveiw and tell me what you think! Ps: You won't be finding out what Ven left Hiyori until either at the end of the book or at the end of the series.


	2. new friends, the promise, and departure

me: I own nothing. I'd like to thank Tii-chan17 for reveiwing. Sugoi means great and no, the characters do not know Japanese at first. Yes Hiyori will be OOC, but she's got amnesia, give us both a break please. I will be showing of a softer side to Hiyori in this story, but she will still be sarcastic and violent, she'll just openly care for her friends a bit more. And italics in quatations is japanese while italics not in quatations are thoughts.

EDIT: Hiyori: the idiot made a mistake and said castle instead of town, so I made her fix it.

me with sandle shaped bruises all over: owiiee.

* * *

3rd POV: As soon as Hiyori Sarugaki's conversation with her darker half was over, a meteor began to fall out of it's orbit around a world that resembled a group of islands and straight into the ocean. That meteor, in fact was none other then the pigtailed key blade wielder who, in her sleep state, managed to grab a piece of driftwood and was carried on the current to shore where she washed up on the beach.

It wasn't until later that a boy with silver hair and shining green eyes found the girl on the island that he and his friends would play on. The boy quickly called to his friends, a boy with messy brown hair and azure eyes, and a girl with short red hair and ocean blue eyes, who helped get the girl into the shade. The silver haired boy told his friends he would go to get water while his friends watched over the odd girl. Just as the silver haired teen returned, the blonde girl on the floor of the shack they'd moved her in moaned in pain as her eyes fluttered open.

Hiyori POV: What's going on? Who are these people? That memory, or, is it a dream? What did it mean? Who was that blonde guy? It looked like feudal Japan. Wait, what is the person saying?

"I-I'm sorry, what?" I managed.

_Okay, think Hiyori think. You must've hit your head or something; that would explain the amnesia. Next, I think I have sand down my pants so that would mean a beach, or an island. Maybe I should pay attention, then I could find out where the hell I am_, I thought, only to be interrupted by a semi-familiar voice.

_Yeah maybe you should you dimwit_, the high-pitched voice said.

_Hey, who are you? My conscience? Or am I just crazy? _I asked.

_Yeah, let's go with that, I'll explain later_, the other girl shouted, _now pay attention!_

"So, my name's Riku, this is Sora, and this is Kairi." the silver haired boy told me as he gestured to his friends, first the boy, then the girl, "And this is our island. Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think so, I'm little thirsty though." I replied, my voice cracking slightly from my dry throat.

"Oh, here," Riku said, handing me a bottle of water that I gratefully took, "Do you remember your name?"

"Yeah, it's Hiyori, Hiyori Sarugaki. How do you know I have amnesia?" I asked, confused.

"It's more common then the textbooks say," Riku replied as Kairi raised her hand slightly to show that she had amnesia to.

"You washed up on the shore a couple hours ago, did you come from a different world?" the boy named Sora chattered excitedly.

"Sora, relax, she's probably confused," Kairi said with a giggle.

"It's fine, and yeah, I think I did come from another world." I replied.

"Wow, cool! So do you want a tour of the island?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Um, sure, thanks," I replied thinking that someone shouldn't have given this kid coffee.

"Hey, Sora, don't you have homework?" Kairi asked, making him pout.

"But Kairi, Riku promised to tutor me and he hasn't," Sora explained.

"I guess it's up to you then Kairi, you don't mind do you?" Riku asked.

"It's fine Riku, I'd love to give Hiyori a tour," she answered.

We went our separate ways, Riku and Sora to finish schoolwork and Kairi and I to check out the island. Kairi introduced me to the other 3 residents of the island and showed me the platforms, shacks, and little hideaways on the island, and carefully avoided my question about a small cave that looked just big enough to crawl into. We then got to the cove where Sora and Riku had some how gotten from studying to sword fighting.

"So, you seem to be the mature one out of the three of you." I stated as we sat in the shade while the boys fought.

"Yeah, I guess so. So, what do you think of the islands?" Kairi asked.

"This is all a pretty good setup. So, did you guys build the shacks and things?" I asked thinking that their parents must've helped.

"You'd have to ask Riku or Sora, I washed up on the shore like you did a few years ago." she responded, a sad look in her eyes.

"Were you as confused and lost as I am?" I asked, surprising myself a bit seeing as I decided I wasn't going to open up to any one any time soon.

Surprise showed on her face as well, but it turned into a melancholy smile, "Yeah, but Sora and Riku are really nice, even if they fight a lot. Oh!" Kairi said as a small pink star shaped charm fell out of her pocket.

"Oh, here," I said as I quickly reached down and grabbed it, then gave it back to her.

"Hey, that looks a lot like mine," I said, pulling out my own red charm that I discovered while searching through my pockets on the tour.

"Wow, this is so cool! Mine's a good luck charm, do you remember what yours is?" Kairi chattered excitedly.

"Um, I think it's a good luck charm, but I know it was given to me by a really good friend." I replied as the boys came over, Sora sporting an already darkening bruise on his forearm where Riku must've whacked him.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, smile firmly in place.

"Hiyori and I have matching good luck charms," Kairi told them happily.

"Really?/Wow!" Riku and Sora said respectively.

"Yeah, see," I said as Kairi and I held up the trinkets.

"Cool," Riku said while Sora just continued to stare.

"So, why weren't you two studying?" Kairi asked, an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

"Busted," I commented smirking, only to get glared at by Riku so I glared back.

"Well-" Riku began but was interrupted by Sora.

"Riku was teasing me bout how I'm not as good as he is at math," Sora said with a pout.

"There's nothing wrong with being bad at math," I told Riku.

"So I suppose your pretty bad then," he said, smirking.

"No actually I think I'm pretty good at math." I told him, matching his smirk before turning to Sora, "If you want, I could probably tutor you, I mean, it can't be that hard."

"Wow, thanks Hiyori!" Sora said cheerfully.

"Hey, sorry to break this up, but we should be heading back to the mainland soon, it's getting dark." Riku said, calling our attention to the setting sun.

We raced back to the boats, well, Sora, Riku, and I did, and got them set to sail.

"Hey, where am I going to stay tonight?" I wondered out loud.

"I'm sure my mom won't mind." Kairi said, "And I bet some of my clothes would fit you to."

"Sugoi, thanks Kairi," I told her, giving her a grateful smile.

"No problem, but Hiyori, what does sugoi mean?"

KHI

Later on, Kairi's parents adopted me and life was pretty good. I taught Kairi some Japanese so we could even talk with out the boys knowing what we were saying and we discussed what we thought the matching good luck charms meant. Kairi and I had a bit better of a connection then I did with the boys. We could understand each other a bit better and Kairi was the only one that didn't laugh at me when I asked an apparently obvious question. Sora was okay, but I could only take his constant hyperness for so long before I got sick of it and if I snapped at him he would give me a pout that would break Satan's heart. Riku and I constantly butted heads and I was about ready to kill him when he tricked Sora into kissing me and posted a picture online. Actually, I did maybe break his arm. After that, his mom didn't let him come back to the island for six months, then after he was rude to me, even though I apologized multiple times, I simply taught him his place. I borrowed Sora's sword and challenged Riku to a sword fight. I'd never fought against the boys with a sword. Only my fists and words, but it shocked every one but me when I knocked Riku on his back in two hits.

Riku and I had a bit more of a grudging respect from there on. We understood each other a bit more when we realized that we had a few things in common. We both wanted to protect our friends and we slowly grew close through the need to become stronger.

Another good thing was that I found out what, or rather who, the voice was from my first day. She is a form of my conscience, but it's more of she's the devil sitting on my shoulder who kidnapped the angel. I still called her conscience though seeing as it pisses her off.

Three years had gone by and we were a pretty tightly knit group. Riku and Sora had gotten the idea to build a raft to visit other worlds and to maybe find the world Kairi and I came from.

I was given the task of hunting down Sora, who'd disappeared earlier, and found the bum taking a nap on the beach. I looked at him, then at the ocean. I then sat down and listened to the waves. I laid back in the sand and it briefly occurred to me that the waves kind of sounded like a lullaby before I slipped into dream land.

I had a strange dream, which in itself was strange seeing as I rarely dream and then it would be the recurring feudal era dream. I was above a meadow and if I looked up, I could see an mirror image of the meadow. In the middle of the meadow, I saw to young men fighting. They both had long hair, a bad overbite, and wore the same traditional Japanese style clothes. The difference would be that while one was full colored, the other was shades of gray.

Their blades clashed, as sparks danced in the air. The world shifted slightly, making a wave of nausea wash over me, but I continued to watched the men fight as if hypnotized. As in my other dreams, I had no control over my body as I watched. It was painfully clear to me that I could not move to help the blonde, who was being quickly pushed back. The blonde was forced onto his back and just as the other man's sword point was being aimed at the blonde's throat, I regained control of my body and shouted 'no' as loud as I could. It worked, as the gray man looked up for a moment, startled, giving the blondes a chance to hack at the gray man's throat.

A splash of blood later and I awoke in a cold sweat to Kairi walking towards us.

Their must've been a startled look on my face seeing as Kairi gave me a look that let me know that she would interrogate me later, before continuing to creep up on Sora. We both laughed at his startled expression when he noticed Kairi after waking up and then again at Riku's light teasing. Kairi got the boys to race, but my mind was else where, so I chose not to compete.

"_Okay, what's up?" _Kairi asked.

"_What do you mean? I just had a weird dream; not the usual weird though. More, bloody_," I replied pausing slightly while thinking of a word to describe the new dream. Bloody seemed to suit it perfectly though.

I thought about the night that I told Kairi about my recurring dream. I'd been asleep, obviously, and woke up in a cold sweat as usual. The only difference would be I accidentally cried out and woke Kairi, my new sister, up. She instantly demanded to know what would be able to get the self-declared hard-ass in such a state and, seeing as I wanted a bit more sleep before morning, I told her the dream By that time though, we'd stayed up until it was time for school and accidentally slept through fourth period.

"_I'll tell you later_," I said as we neared the entrance to the cove and gave Sora the list of what he needed to get for the raft.

A little while after we sent the brunette off, I swiftly explained my dream and gave her a look that said that I was going to climb a tree and refuse to come down again if she asked any questions. Right as the sun was setting, Sora came back with the remaining raft supplies so we met up at the paopu fruit tree that's only branch was at an odd horizontal angle. Riku leaned up against the base of it, while the rest of us sat on it.

"So, Kairi's and Hiyori's homes are out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked as we stared at the sunset.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here." Riku replied.

"But, how far can a raft take us?" Sora asked, leaning over to get a better look at Riku.

"Who knows? If we have to, we can think of something else." Riku replied.

"So, suppose you do get to another world. What would you do when you get there?" Kairi asked, smiling.

"Well, I haven't really thought about it." Riku began, "It's just… I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds out there… Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we just as easily could've ended up somewhere else."

"I don't know," Sora said, reclining back on the tree trunk.

"Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. So let's go," Riku finished.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Kairi asked.

"Thanks to you two. If you and Hiyori hadn't come, then I probably would've never thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks." Riku finished.

"Your welcome." Kairi answered.

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" I asked as they looked at me as if I'd just appeared out of no where.

"No, you're chopped midget," Riku said smirking as Kairi quickly grabbed me in the full nelson hold I taught her.

_I really oughta stop teaching her stuff_, I thought as her hold proved she was stronger then she looked to the point of me not being able to break it to break Riku's face with out hurting my adoptive sister.

"Do you promise to behave?" Kairi asked as Riku smirk grew.

"Grrr, do you want to go for a swim?" I asked, forcing us to the edge of the small island.

"Eep!" she squeaked, immediately releasing me.

"I'll deal with you later pretty boy," I growled at Riku before racing to the boats.

KH

The next day was mostly uneventful. The boys raced over something stupid and in the rematch I whooped them both to clean the slate and get them to focus on gathering supplies. Kairi and I had an interesting conversation though.

"Hey, Hiyori," Kairi began.

"What?" I asked looking up from my project of making a teal good luck charm while Kairi made one out of thalassic shells with a little smiley face on it.

"We both know the boys are going to get themselves into some big trouble so if we get separated I'll look after Sora and you make sure Riku doesn't kill anyone," Kairi said, smiling and laughing slightly.

"Yeah sure, he isn't the one you need to worry about getting convicted of homicide." I grumbled.

"Do you want to look after Sora, his never not hyperness as you call it, and his gravity defying hair?" Kairi asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Fine, I'll try to not kill the girly boy," I grumbled, making Kairi grin.

"Now, let's talk about you and Sora," I said, grinning maniacally as she gulped.

KH

Later that night I was just laying in my bed and kicking my legs until I realized that a storm was brewing outside.

"Kairi, the raft!" I shouted, pointing towards the island.

I quickly stuffed an outfit up my shirt and darted down the stairs with the red head in tow. We then snuck out the door carefully, being sure to not make a sound, and raced to the docks. We then jumped in our boats and paddled to the island as fast as we could. When we got there, I saw Kairi disappear into the small cave I saw on my first day but before I could follow, I saw a flash of red.

_Sora, what did you do this time? _I mentally asked myself.

_Dunno but ye' might wanna' step on it chibi_, Conscience told me.

_Oh, will you shut up!_ I mentally shouted.

_Shutting up now, _she yelped, hearing the acid in my tone.

I decided it would be quicker to just swim around the small island and climb the ladder instead of going the long way around to where just yesterday we were talking.

When I got to the top of the ladder that was built into the island, I heard a familiar voice shout "I'm not afraid of the darkness!" I then saw Riku being engulfed in darkness and Sora trying to grab his hand, so I did what came naturally to me; I body tackled him.

"S-Sora! Take care of Kairi! I'll look after Riku!" I called out to the brunette while struggling to keep my grip on the silver haired teen.

"Hiyori! But-" Sora began.

"No buts or I'll shove a paopu fruit so far up yer' ass it'll come out your mouth!" I shouted back.

The darkness then fully swallowed us up, but Riku still didn't quit tossing and turning. He fought like a demon trying to get me off, but I held on for dear life and wasn't about to let go. The darkness was suffocating. It scared me; I saw large yellow eyes and small black hands grabbing at me. I couldn't breathe and could barely move much more then tightening my grip. I heard voices, but they all blended together to the point of me not being able to distinguish what they were saying. I looked down, or is it up? And saw a small amount of light and we were headed straight towards it.

_Naw, shit. I'm pretty sure we aren't supposed to be heading into the light_, I thought earning a small chuckle from Conscience.

I then closed my eyes, and hoped for the best until I felt something hard. I then opened my eyes to me an odd little town just as Riku managed to push me off him.

"Riku, I don't think we're on Destiny Islands anymore." I mumbled to him.

* * *

me: I hope you enjoyed! Reveiw please! And Hiyori and Riku do have a like/hate relationship, but they WILL NOT become a couple. The kiss mentioned above is the kiss that Riku was making fun of in the prolougue to the first book. Yes, he did exagerate in the prolougue. Once again, reveiw please!


	3. Monsters Inc

me: I'd like to thank Tii-chan17 for reveiwing and any others who may have story alerted or favorited. I would like to say this though, there are quite a few people the have been reading, just not reveiwing. If more people reveiw, then I'll update faster and more frequently. Riku, please.

Riku DragonBallZLover doesn't own anything.

me: Also, I'm proud to say, not counting the AN, the word count was the highest yet at 4,995.

* * *

Hiyori POV: I stood up and shook off the remaining rain drops from the storm. I then looked around and was surprised to see that we really weren't on the islands anymore.

Instead, I saw odd little mismatched buildings and streetlamps that casted a yellowish light on the surrounding area. I took note of the lack of visible moon and the fact that there were no clouds above. The town looked to almost be a refuge for runaways with the variety of people I could see.

I was about to check on Riku when he groaned and sat up; cradling his head in his hands.

"Are you okay Riku?" I asked, for once using his real name to show I'm being serious.

"Yeah, I could use an Advil though. What about you Hiyori?" Riku asked standing up and offering me his hand.

"Please, that was nothing," I scoffed as I stood up quickly without his help.

"Well, if your sure. Hey, where are we?" Riku asked, looking around.

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe we should take a look around." I suggested.

"Thank you captain obvious," Riku stated, smirking at me.

"Uh, Riku, don't freak out or anything, but you have a giant bat wing in your hand," I told him, pointing at his right hand.

"What the hell?" Riku question.

"Now now, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this bat boy," I told him grinning as I tested out my new nick-name for the teen.

"Hey Pyro, try looking at your hand for a second," Riku told me as I looked down to my hand to see blue and red key-like sword with flame-like designs.

I simply sighed sensing the familiar tingle at the back of my head and hearing Conscience crow in delight at the sight of the odd blade.

"Hey, Riku, do me a favor and shut up," I mumbled, grimacing at the sudden twinge of pain as spots danced before my eyes.

_Damn amnesia_, I thought to myself, hating the triggers that showed me flashes of my past before I lost my memories.

The only time I ever got something concrete however, would be when I'm meditating and I would think about the dream. Yes, I the short tempered violent midget and considered to be a pyro maniac by her friends meditates.

"Are you okay Hiyori?" Riku asked.

"I'm fine, let's just start looking for Sora and Kairi," I told him as we started off on our own little journey.

We walked for hours, constantly running into small bug-like things that I saw on the islands. Riku and I worked out a system: we take turns of who fights and the person not fighting just blocks and stays out of the other's way. Luckily, or maybe not, we were both great fighters. The bad part was that we both got bored easily with the weak opponents.

"Hey, look Hiyori," Riku said, pointing to a swirling dark portal in a dark corner at the end of dark alley that was swarming with the little black bug-like things.

"We are not going in that thing," I stated, glaring at him.

"Why not? You were just saying we need to find a way out of this town." Riku remarked walking towards the portal before I ripped off my glove and slapped him upside the head with it; me of course taking great joy in the rewarding (and probably painful) thump that came from his head as it connected with the wall of the alley.

"Because idiot, that is a dark swirling portal that practically screams danger, this is a dark alley way and people ALWAYS get killed in movies in dark alley ways, and lastly, the black things seem to be coming from this portal. So, a.k.a., I will be staying here, and you will to." I told him scowling as he glared at me before smirking.

"That's it, no more horror movies for you," he began, his smirk growing as I flipped him off. "But I understand."

"You do?" I questioned, scared that he found out about the promise I made to Kairi and would make fun of me for it.

Normally I would just beat him up, and even though he couldn't get into any trouble if he's in a coma, but I don't think it would count as protecting the teen. Also, I really don't feel like dealing with the lecture from my adoptive sister.

"Yeah, of course. You're a girl so it's natural to be scared," Riku said as he tensed, ready for the beating.

I just studied him. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and his hands were stationed as if he was ready to protect his face and genitals, knowing that I would aim there first. He was clever, I had to give him that. I knew he wasn't that sexist and he's currently using reverse psychology. Either way I lose, unless...

"Why Riku, if you're so concerned why don't you go first?" I asked.

His expression was priceless. It was widely known around school that Riku was smart, a top notch student and he could outwit most of the students (and several teachers). He however, was a fool to try to outwit the ex-lieutenant of the twelfth division, the division known for their brains.

_Wait_, the thought stopped me cold, _twelfth division? What is that? _I thought. _Conscience, remind me later please._

_On it boss! _Conscience replied cheerfully.

Something's up, but I deal with it later. Right now I have a pretty-boy to trick.

"But wouldn't you rather look for a different way out of this place?" Riku asked after recovering from his surprise.

"Why? Are you scared?" I asked innocently.

"Who me? Never." He asked, his male pride surfacing.

"Alright," I said, walking closer to the teen, "then you wouldn't mind me doing this!" I shouted, grabbing his shirt and throwing him through the portal before drawing my sword and walking through it myself.

I walked onto something squishy, then looked down to see that A. I hadn't thrown Riku as far as I thought, and B. we were in another one of those damn dark passages.

I cursed as I got off Riku then hauled him to his feet. I then grabbed his hand and ran to he small bit of light that I saw. Once again, I had trouble breathing, but it seemed like Riku didn't.

_Allow me boss_, Conscience said smugly as a weird sensation flowed through my body and suddenly I could breath.

I slowed slightly and filled my lungs with the bitter smelling air. It was as if some one shoved concentrated lemon juice up my nose and it was a bit hard to breath still. I decided quickly that I didn't like this power. It felt dark, to dark. Unnatural. It scared me a bit and I wasn't easily scared. I realized immediately that someone would have to have no choice or a heart filled with hatred to willingly use this power. It was strong, but I was stronger.

I took a large breath of the sweet clean air as we burst through the opening and into a new world. The power receded as quickly as it came, leaving me wanting more. I quickly shook my head to clear it, but the hunger was still there.

I looked at Riku who was currently looking around in awe. We were in an alley, but this one was a bit brighter. I peeked around the corner and my jaw dropped. I saw hundreds of monsters every where. Only they weren't terrorizing or causing chaos. They looked to be... walking to work?

I then took a closer look at Riku and gasped, before falling on the ground laughing and clutching my stomach.

"What's so fun-ny?" Riku asked, stretching out the last word as he looked at as if I had a new appearance also.

Riku now was missing his shirt displaying white fur covering his chest. He also now had whisker-like marks on his cheeks and his eyes now had slitted pupils like a cat's. The differences that made me laugh however were the fuzzy white kitty ears that sat on Riku's head and the long white cat tail behind him that frequently twitched.

"What do I look like?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Um, Hiyori," he tried weakly.

"What. Do. I. Look. Like?" I asked slowly.

"Um, cat girl. Why? Do I look... Why am I covered in fur?" Riku asked.

I looked down and, sure enough, I was sporting golden fur the same shade as my hair, a tail, and thankfully a shirt. I cautiously felt the top of my head and tried not to squeak as two fuzzy things on top of my head twitched.. I was also certain that there were a pair of whisker marks on my cheeks and my eyes were slitted.

"At least we won't have trouble blending in," I remarked sarcastically as we walked out of the alley.

We began our trek hoping to find another portal seeing as we won't really be able to give accurate descriptions in this world of Sora and Kairi, until we saw a round, green, one-eyed man (I think it's a man) clinging to a very nice looking car.

"Let's see if we can get directions," I told Riku.

"We don't need to stop for directions," Riku said, looking exasperated.

"It might help find Kairi quicker," I told him.

His eyes narrowed and I resisted the urge to wince. That was a low blow, but I'd do it again if it meant getting him to see reason.

"Fine," he nearly growled and I hissed at him.

Our eyes widened and an unspoken agreement passed between us. Get out of here A.S.A.P.

"Hello, we're new here and we're wondering if maybe you can help us out?" I asked the two men.

"Well, what are you looking for?" the blue fuzzy one asked smiling and showing off his large, sharp teeth.

"Have you two seen any swirling dark portals any where?" I asked, currently feeling like an idiot for asking what would probably be considered a stupid question.

"No, why? Oh, I get it, you two are magic wielders, eh? Out of towners, Well why don't you head to Monsters Incorporated with us, maybe you can find your portal there. I'm James Sullivan, but you can call me Sulley. This is Mike Wazowski. So, shall we set off?" the blue man asked.

"Sure, my name's Riku and this is Hiyori," Riku introduced us both as we began walking.

"So, what kind of monsters are you?" Sulley asked as Mike continued to sulk.

"We're yokai," I answered quickly before Riku could screw this up.

"Ah Demons, eh? Well this here is a pretty decent place. It's probably not much like Japan though." Sulley said before he greeted a few people.

"Am I the only one here who doesn't know what a yokai is?" Mike asked, still pouting slightly.

"It's a Japanese demon, and you're right; this place is nothing like Japan. We live in the human world along with other demons. It's actually not that hard," I told them trying to smile pleasantly and was suddenly grateful that Kairi made me act civil and polite when we had guests.

Kairi. The though of my sister having to fight those things made me smile. While the boys thought we would normally just talk and do girly things, instead I trained her. I taught her quite a bit and now I'm pleased to say that she could probably last a few minutes against me or Riku. Sora on the other hand is a bit of a wild card. Half the time he whips me and the other half I pound him. I still am worried about the two, but an image of her whacking Sora upside the head with the sturdy wood sword we made helped make my smile more genuine. I did know one thing though: if Sora gets them hurt or in trouble, his manly bits will be at stake.

"Wow, you two live in the human world?" Mike asked surprised, "What are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, it's not like their dangerous. Well, not normally," I said, smirking at Riku as he glared at me; probably remembering the time I nearly broke his ribs when he aggravated me in one of our free-for-all brawls.

"But, their touch can kill us," Mike said, looking shocked.

"That's just like humans telling their kids that monsters kill humans. It's a cycle; monsters are afraid of humans and humans are terrified of monsters when in actuality, neither could actually kill the other easily," I stated calmly as everyone stopped walking.

"What?" I asked,

They all just looked at me weirdly except Riku (who knew that although I'm a blonde, I'm actually pretty smart). My explanation made sense to me, so I really didn't understand why the other two were staring at me as if I told them I was a human instead of this cat thing. It's not that hard to figure out. It seemed like these two were scared of humans, but I'm pretty sure neither species was toxic to the other. Something tells me that I've seen scarier things then a giant blue puff ball and obviously I've lived to tell. A.K.A. these people were scared for no reason.

Finally, Sulley and Mike shrugged and moved on as we trailed after them.

I figured we looked like little kittens following them, then I realized that we _are_ kittens, or at least pretty close.

At last, we arrived at a large building that we swiftly walked into. Sulley and Mike greeted a few more people, then Sulley went to prepare with the other 'scarers'. Apparently the monsters here made their living by scaring small children. Honestly, if you really wanted to terrify your average teenager then simply threaten the guys' video game system or the girls' makeup and wardrobe. That'll take care of at least 75% of American teens from what I've seen. Then again, apparently I'm not a professional, or even working here, so my opinion doesn't matter.

Riku and I simply blended into the shadows, a useful skill I might add, and watched unimpressed ass the so called 'scarers' dramatically entered. I had to stifle my snickering as an image of them all falling down like dominoes popped into my head, but of course, Riku with his freakish hearing picked up on my laughter. I told him what I thought and we both laughed quietly together.

The 'scarers' began prepping for there 'job'. Honestly, all I see is a bunch of misfits trying to act big and tough by making young children yet themselves. At least I know now why Kairi was afraid to clean out under her bed and I had to do it.

I yawned as it dawned on me that I hadn't slept for probably more then a day.

"Hey, Riku, we need to find a place to crash and soon." I told the silver head before he nodded.

"Yeah, without the adrenaline rush of the fights I'm practically falling asleep on my feet." Riku said.

I was a little surprised at his immediate admittance of me being right, but the need for sleep one out as we began brain storming. So far, most of the ideas involved either freeloading, breaking and entering, or theft. Well, that's what you get when you take tow half asleep juvenile geniuses with three inch thick permanent records and let them run wild.

After the work day had apparently finished, we rejoined our new friends who apologized for making us wait, but apparently Mike had a big date at a Japanese restaurant so he left in a rush.

Riku and I decided that we'd wait by the entrance while Sulley would finish some paperwork. In my opinion I thought that Mike really needed to get his act together, but that was the last thought I had before small monsters surrounded us and poised to attack.

"I thought monsters here are friendly," Riku mumbled as we stood back to back.

"Yeah, but these are like the ones from that town." I told him.

"Oh yeah?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, see the emblem?" I asked the silver head as he took a closer look and saw the heart shaped emblem on various body parts.

The things finally attacked and Riku and I actually got a decent challenge. The demons had a good strategy, they tried to get us to separate to attack our backs, but we wouldn't budge. After we took out the small fries however, a large suit of armor that looked to not have any one in it approached.

Riku and I looked at each other and nodded. No matter how much we dislike it, we would have to work as a team to take out this sucker.

I quickly got to work at slashing the torso while Riku began with the arms and legs. Soon after we started our onslaught, the thing fell apart. The arms and legs separated from the torso and this fight seemed to get a bit more annoying. Riku took the arms while I took the legs and we both avoided the torso altogether.

Suddenly, the armor reassembled itself and knocked into me with it's arm, sending me through the glass doors of the building. The blow knocked the wind out of me and the glass shards sliced through my clothes and some cut at my face. I suddenly was very grateful for my new fur coat however seeing as it dulled the pain drastically.

I heard Riku call my name and I urged myself to get up. I jumped back through the hole in the building and was shocked to see Riku, weaponless, and about to be squished.

I tried to cry out, but no sounds came out of my mouth. I was about to fail. I was about to loose the only friend I had besides my sister that didn't make me want to kill them. No. I will not give up. Not now, not ever. I felt a warm glow around my hand and felt something hard solidify.

I didn't look down to see what it was, I only ran, jumped in the air, and sliced my key blade and the foreign item in an X shaped, slicing clean through the hard metal of the purple armor. I then turned around to see Riku looking at me slightly stunned as the rest of the armor disappeared.

I smiled at him weakly as his sword reappeared in his hand before I slowly walked over to him and helped him up. I then grabbed a belt loop on his pants so he couldn't move and smacked him as hard as I could. Ignoring the protests from the obviously annoyed boy, I then gripped him in a tight hug.

"Don't ever pull any stunts like that again." I mumbled.

"Oh, yeah right, coming from the girl who went through a door. Ow~" he moaned in pain as I punched him in the gut.

"Hey guys, sorry for taking so long. What happened?" Sulley asked while gaping at the holes in the doors and the numerous gashes on my face.

"It doesn't matter, what's in the bag?" I asked gesturing to the large bag he had clutched in his hand.

I heard a slight giggle from it and just stared at him in shock and disbelief. I glanced over and saw Riku was staring at him as if he had just said that he was Riku's father. A.K.A. the look of 'you're a total and complete idiot'.

"If there is a kid in there I will '23 19' your ass, video tape it, hotwire the local emergency broadcast system, and play the video for every one in this whole city to see. Not to mention any billboards, computers, and all other electronics linked to the internet. The, of course, I'm sure you'd love to have all of your work buddies to see, so if I hack into the big screen and play it, let's say, every twenty three minutes, then it'll just make every one happy, now won't it?" I said, smiling angelically and hoping the affect wasn't ruined by the blood and glass.

_Oh shit! _Was my only thought as my face felt like it was on fire. That or someone decided to rub salt in the scratches, or maybe lemon juice. Either way, it hurt like a b****.

I mentally smirked at his horrified face as Riku turned to me, angling himself so Sulley couldn't see his face and smirked. He also gave me a thumbs which I thought was kind of dorky, but I still was happy that he thought I did good with my plot.

Sulley simply opened the case and a kid tumbled out. She looked to be about three, had short brown hair pulled into pigtails, and was wearing night clothes.

"Oh kami! You big fuzzy blue a-hole!" I shouted as I ran over and scooped the kid up into my arms.

Even though I'd rather go on a date with Riku then admit it, I loved kids and they loved me. Kairi and Riku were the only ones that knew it. Kairi because of when our little cousin came over and we baby sat her for a weekend. Riku because when we came over to his house to study once, his little brother was being a brat and I was the only one who could calm him down.

I like little kids better then older kids. Little kids don't talk back, can be pretty sweet, they don't know the meaning of half the words in my vocabulary so I can actually teach them things, and they normally like me to.

So, although Sulley seemed shocked that I not only picked up the little human, but that I was also being kind, Riku just stood on the sidelines smirking as the child pulled on my ear.

"Kitty!" the young girl shouted gleefully.

"Yeah, kitty," I said weakly trying not to yelp as she put a hand on my hurt face.

"Hey, maybe I should take her," Riku said gently grabbing the girl.

She seemed just as happy with the cat boy as with me, so I was fine. I needed to do an assessment on my face and soon.

Sulley then explained that he would need to show Mike, so we decided that it's time to crash a date.

After we got to the restaurant, I made a beeline to bathroom, ignoring the looks I got, and nearly collapsed in relief. It wasn't to bad. I knew head wounds bleed a lot, but this was a bit ridiculous. I had a couple of smaller pieces and a few very small shards, but the worst was the medium sized chuck of glass lodged near my eye. I took a small medical kit out of my pocket (courtesy of Kairi), grabbed the tweezers and just as I was about to wiggle out the medium piece when I heard a screech.

I groaned in annoyance and wondered what Riku did this time as I packed up the kit. When I walked out, I saw chaos.

The silver haired boy grabbed my arm and half dragged me out of the restaurant. Outside, we only had to wait a moment before Sulley and Mike got out of the chaos and we began or run from the helicopters and trucks.

After a late night chase through the city, we finally made it back to the boys' apartment. While the big scary monsters hid in the corner using a trash can lid as a shield, Riku began the tedious process of cleaning my face up.

I did my best not to show pain in front of the other teen, but I did wince when he had to dig around in a cut to get a tiny shard. Finally, he was done. He used two regular band-aids and one butterfly for the cut by my eye. According to him, the cut by my eye was the only one that looked like it might scar. I was fine with that as long as I didn't come home with more then one or two visible scars.

I walked to the bathroom and observed my face. It didn't look half bad. Overall, the worst looking would be a cut on my cheek. The reason being that it was the only one not coated in bandages of some sort. In actuality, most of my bandaged cuts were worse, but that was the least bad and the shallowest, so Riku deemed that it didn't need to be bandaged.

I reached under the sink and found a small first aid kit. I then taped a piece of gauze with Neosporin to the cut. It looked good, but after I mumbled a few words under my breath that I didn't recognize, it felt good to.

I then walked out, scooped up the kid that the boys, Riku included, were tossing cheerios to, and began to make the bed with one hand.

"Fluff ball, Mike, welcome to the floor club." I told them before their jaws dropped.

"No way! The kid can sleep in the chair!" Mike shouted.

"And I can alert the police to-" I trailed off.

"Boo," Sulley supplied helpfully.

"Thanks. To Boo's presence, then be out of here with Riku and the kid in less then an hour." I responded coolly.

Mike gulped then mumbled, "The floor sounds nice."

I smirked at their submission before continuing to make the bed.

"Riku, grab some tomato soup and get to work on a grilled cheese." I said before my stomach growled, "make that two a piece."

"We don't have power because the genius in green made Boo cry," Riku said.

"Heat 'em up best you can." I told him tossing him my Zippo lighter and tossed it to him while glaring at Wazowski.

I let Boo go play with Sulley, who actually liked the kid, and leaned back against the wall. I knew that if I thought about Kairi, what was going on right now, or pretty much anything important, that I'd never be able to get to sleep tonight, dead tired or not, so I thought about my lighter. Kairi got me the Zippo for my most recent birthday. (we decided that the day they found me would be my 'birthday') It was a black lighter with an intricate dragon design on it. I'm honestly surprised that she got me it seeing as she's against my home made pyrotechnics shows. Also, convincing our parents probably wasn't an easy feat.

Before long, dinner was ready so we ate lukewarm soup and warm grilled cheese sandwiches. I've had worse, so I ate rather happily. After dinner, Boo had a slight disagreement about sleeping arrangements. I finally caved and told the kid a bed time story. I told her the first story that came into my head about four warriors. They were victims of betrayal and trickery, the warriors still fought on however, and won against the bad guys. I did change the ending though so they safely returned home in the end instead of being lost forever.

As the story ended, Boo finally drifted off to sleep. I looked over and Saw that Sulley and Mike had passed out as well. I sat down on the couch with Riku right before tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Nice story," he mumbled.

"Thanks," I mumbled back.

"Hiyori, earlier you were fighting with two swords," Riku remarked.

"Huh, I can only summon one now," I mumbled back to him, summoning one of the two blades.

I could feel the other connected to my soul like this one, but I decided to pass it off as a fluke. I could feel a dark presence in the room and I didn't think it would be a good idea to let it know about the other sword.

"Are you sure?" Riku demanded.

"Yeah, now shaddup and play pillow." I told him, now half asleep and leaning on him.

He appeared to be grossed out for a moment before realizing that I was nearly asleep and probably couldn't tell what I was doing. Whatever, he made an awful pillow.

Halfway through the night, I had the usual dream which only served to aggravate me. I woke up as usual, only to see another dark portal. I shook Riku awake and gestured to the portal. He nodded and began to walk forward until I caught his arm. At his questioning look, I just got two pieces of paper out of the desk and a pen. I then wrote on one the another portal had appeared and we had to go in before it disappeared and if Sulley and Mike were ever one Destiny Islands to look us up. I then took a picture of Riku and I using an old-fashioned camera that automatically prints the picture, folded it up along with a note to Boo apologizing for leaving on such short notice, and stuffed them both in a plastic hollow heart-shaped cram hanging on a string necklace.

I ripped another piece of paper and wrote 'To Boo' on it, then put by the heart charm.

I nodded to Riku and we went through the portal. I grabbed Riku's hand and ran as fast as I could and then some to the shaft of light. I couldn't breathe, again, but I told Conscience that if she even tried to help, I'd strangle her with her own intestines.

We fell through the opening after what felt like forever, really, we literally fell through it. I then took a much appreciated breathe of fresh air before opening my eyes and looking around.

"Oh shit," was all that came out of my mouth.

* * *

me: And, cliff hanger. Link to Hiyori's lighter on my profile. I gave into fanservice and had a shirtless Riku. Also, little fun fact, I had originally planned on having Hiyori being a Shinigami, but decided against it. To much story conflict. I'm thinking about doing a shorter chapter about what Miyori and Kairi's thinking, but for Kairi, it would be a giant spoiler for any one who's never played Kingdom Hearts. Remember, reiveiws both make me write faster, and can turn even the worst day for me into a good day. Basically, please review.

Another thing, I bet you can't guess what world they're going to next. It's not a disney world. The initials of it are SD. There are many movies and at least six different series. If you guess what it is, then submit a movie or episode and I'll try to do it if I remember it. Also, sorry I didn't do all of monsters inc, but I did as much as I could remember.

Edit: me: Hiyori did use Riku as a pillow, but only because she was in that half asleep state where we do things we would normally never do. Also, despite how much Riku and Hiyori say they hate each other, they actually do care about each other. They're like brothers and sisters, they fight tooth and nail, but they really do deeply care about each other.


	4. vampires and a new pet rejected

me: I used a dirty trick and paraphrased more then half the movie. Please don't kill me. It's three A.M. and I have school tommorow, so please take it easy. Short chapter, but the next one should be better. Movie's Scooby Doo and the Legend of the Vampire. I like the Scooby Doo movie's, but Hiyori would probably find a lot of things rediculous or stupid. Important notice at the bottom.

* * *

I quickly covered my mouth and hoped to whatever deity that would listen to me that the things in the room I was in didn't hear. I took a quick look around before seeing that Riku had been knocked unconscious. It looked like we were in some kind of cave and there were three things in the middle of the room adjusting a large projector.

Vampires aren't real, right? Well, if they are, something tells me they wouldn't look as weird as the three beings in the middle of the room. The three things looked like they just stepped out of an old 80's punk rock poster then joined the undead.

I once again wished that I hadn't watched so many horror movies.

Thankfully, the three things began moving some supplies down a corridor so I slung Riku over my shoulder and sprinted down an opposite corridor.

_Ugh, Riku really need to lay off the Twinkies, _I thought to myself as Conscience snickered in agreement.

_Well, I have a good feeling about this world boss! _Conscience said excitedly.

_You have a _'good feeling' _about anything that creeps me out_, I thought back grumpily_. By the way, do you think those are real vampires? Because if so…_ I mentally trailed off as pictures of all the pranks I could pull ran through my head.

_I dunno' boss… but do you wanna' find out? _Conscience asked and I could hear the devilish smile in her thoughts.

Conscience and I began to discuss different ideas and I barely realized when we got out of the cave. I took a quick look around and realized that we seemed to be in a forest of sorts. I walked towards a group of trees and, once we were in the shade, dropped Riku unceremoniously on the hard ground and sprayed a bit of water from my canteen (that I got from Sulley and Mike) on his face, waking him up.

"What the hell Hiyori?" he asked grumpily.

"C'mon pretty boy, it looks like we have a long day ahead of us," I told him as I walked further into the forest with the teen following uncertainly.

*KH1*

We walked for hours until nightfall and I told the silver head about what I saw in the cave. At first he didn't believe me, but after he saw the look on my face, he quickly agreed that something was up. We continued to walk, talking with each other a bit, until we heard a shrill scream.

We glanced at each other before taking off in the direction of the scream. We then burst through the trees, ready to draw our key blades, until we saw that there was no trouble, just a teen with bad skin, and a brown and black dog who then screeched at us.

I winced at the sound as three other teens came into view. The first, and tallest, was a boy that looked a few years older then Riku and I. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked to be the leader of the group. The second was a girl with mid-length red hair and bright blue eyes. From how close she was standing to the blonde, I assumed they were either dating, or liked each other. The last was a girl with short brown hair, glasses, freckles and reminded me of the librarian back home.

"Shaggy, Scooby, it's okay. They're not monsters, just kids." the blonde said as my eye twitched from the kids comment.

"Sorry about them, they're just a bit jumpy. My name's Daphne by the way. Are you two here for the rock festival to?" the redhead asked.

"It's fine, my name's Riku and this is my little sister Hiyori. Actually, we're not, but it sounds like it might be fun; can you maybe explain a bit more?" Riku said making my eye twitch again.

They seemed to buy it though seeing as they introduced themselves. When Daphne commented how cute I was, I resisted the urge to kill something, namely the redhead, and instead settled for glaring at an innocent shrub.

"So, how old are you?" Daphne asked us.

I glanced at Riku as he nodded; I guess we're using our real ages.

"I'm 15," Riku answered in the tone he uses when he's trying to make a good impression.

"I'm 14," I answered shortly, ignoring the silver head's glare. Oops, guess he meant for me to pretend I was younger.

"Where are your parents?' Fred asked.

"We don't have any. The orphanage went on a trip here and we got lost. It's fine though, we can find our way back tomorrow," Riku lied smoothly.

"Are you kids sure? We could help you get back." Fred offered.

"We're actually searching for our friends so it's fine. One is a little shorter then me, spiky brown hair, blue eyes, and can't keep his mouth shut. The other is a girl, short red hair, and blue eyes. Have you seen them?" Riku asked.

They all shook their heads no and said that they were sorry, but my mind went back to the things from the cave.

I cocked my head to the side as I heard something. Is that… music? Why would some one be playing music in the middle of no where?

I slowly started walking towards it. It sounded kind of like rock music, but it would be easier to tell if I got closer.

"Hiyori? Where are you going?" Riku asked.

"I hear some music," was my simple reply.

I kept walking and the group followed after me. I was a bit surprised that they followed me without questioning.

_Kind of like ducks, _I mused as the teens followed in a straight line with Riku talking to the blonde, _and so trusting to_.

_Ya' got that right boss, _Conscience/Miyori answered, snickering the whole time.

_So, anything to report that I asked me to remember? _I asked.

_Erm, let's see, quote 'ex lieutenant of squad 12 in the royal guard squad' un quote, _my other half reported.

_Umm, considering the throbbing in the back of my head started when you said lieutenant, I'm gonna' pass, _I said as sharp bursts of pain began radiating from the back of my head.

_Well, I've got nothing else. Wanna' talk about different ways to make Sora wet himself? _Miyori asked.

_Sure. _

* * *

*the next day*

_I blame you! _I mentally shouted at Miyori as the vampire began gaining.

She just laughed nervously as I sped up to top speed, dragging Riku behind me all the way as we ran through the tunnels that we first appeared in.

I just decided mindless running would be the best way to go (hey, don't look at me like that, the tunnels all look the same!) while I try to remember how we got into this mess.

The music turned out to be a group called the Hex Girls, who were friends with the people we found in the woods. Some other people were there to and said that contestants were getting scared off by the vampires. I elbowed Riku in the ribs to keep his big mouth shut. On the upside, we know that the vampires used to be the band Wild Wind who performed in the music festival a few years back. Fred then got the _brilliant _(note the sarcasm) idea to start a band. I said right out that I _will not _join their band and Riku just glared when they asked him (his glare creeps me out, and that's saying something). Instead, we got front row seats to watch them look like bigger idiots then normal. Fun (actually, it's more of funny). We were both grateful when a jeep pulled up; then the people spoke. Riku just put me in a full nelson and waited it out. If he didn't, well we really don't have time for a lawsuit. Another thing, the group was another band and the driver is the manager (also, previous manager of Wild Wind).

We split up and I volunteered to go with Scooby and Shaggy. Hey, they said food and I was hungry. Big mistake. Apparently, Riku, Daphne, Fred, and Velma found our first suspect, the manager (who I voted to have just embraced his inner fan girl and kept Wild Wind costumes), while Shaggy, Scooby, and I got chased around by vampires. Don't ask me why I didn't use my key blade; I'm still trying to figure that one out. Shaggy and Scooby hid in instruments while I just climbed the stage and watched the vamps search. Eventually, they left and the other half of the group appeared (I managed to surprise them by sliding down from the metal things that holds the backdrop of the stage). We got debriefed on what they found in the trailer and then the bad omens started practicing. The Yowie Yahoo (giant vamp, works with Wild Wind), came and made my day by kidnapping the band we met earlier (I video taped it on my phone). We then set up camp (Riku and I got stuck sharing a tent) and a new band called Two Skinny Dudes came in the middle of the night.

The manager then switched from being depressed about the kidnapped band to happy about the new guys and focused on recruiting them. That night, the Hex Girls performed and I got another video tape of the Yowie Yahoo kidnapping a band. The group then decided to investigate the mountain we ended up in; AKA Vampire Rock. Riku and I both went with Fred, Daphne, and Velma and got separated. Hence, we are now running from a fake vampire for no reason other then me staying up late and watching the midnight horror specials and probably getting scarred for life from to many horror films in the dark.

We ran through the tunnels and eventually came out to where Shaggy and Scooby were being cornered by dingoes.

"Hey Riku, can I-" I started.

"No Hiyori, you may not track one down and keep it as a pet or sick it on Sora," Riku remarked, giving me a flat look.

"You don't let me have any fun, jackass," I said, glaring.

Just then, the vampires and the rest of Mystery Inc. interrupted our impending argument. Just then, sunlight reflected off Scooby's collar and destroyed the Yowie Yahoo. We then got chased by Wild Wind with Fred calling out all the myths that Wild Wind disproved. Sunlight hit them and they ran over running water. We then managed to trap Wild Wind in a net. A splash of water took care of the make up, then Daphne redid the makeup to show that they were the original Wild Wind (as if there was any doubt). The band that Mystery Inc. started was then declared the winner of the contest and played.

"They actually sound decent," I remarked.

"Yeah, I think they sound great to," Riku translated from Hiyori-speak to how most people talk.

"Hey, our ride's here," I said pointing to a swirling portal.

We waved to the gang, who were up on stage as they finished their song, and began to run through the portal. It seemed shorter this time and I held my breath without to much trouble.

We walked out this time instead of stumbling and came to a familiar sight.

"Hey Riku, look where we are," I told the silver head.

He looked around and realized we were in Traverse Town again.

* * *

me: Why Hiyori didn't use her key blade is a mystery to me, and I'm the author!

Important Notice: I will be putting either this story, or Rosario + Vampire Next Gen on temporary hiatus soon. I'll be asking for your imput on which one. I'll put a poll up on my profile for it to. I'm not sure when the poll will end.

Please reveiw.


	5. Welcome to the Lions' Den

me: Hello everyone. I have a guest here to thank my only reveiwer.

Gin: Hello every one, we'd like ta' thank Tii-chan17 fer reveiwin'.

me: I'd like to thank Gin as well for coming here today. I'd also like to say that although I'm happy that the Vizards are coming back soon in the english dub version of Bleach, but I'm not particularly happy that Gin will soon be gone forever. (glomps him)

Gin: Now now, you can call me back here anytime you like.

me: Really?

Gin: Yup, now shall we?

me: We shall, enjoy the chapter! Sorry for any OOCness.

* * *

Hiyori POV: I stood up and looked around, my expression grim. Now I am sure that someone or something is messing with us. Why only send us to two different worlds before bringing us back here? If this is a test, then shouldn't they of had a fight at the end of the last world? If they're trying to kill us, then shouldn't they have kept coming at us from different angles? Also, why us? This has something to do with my missing memories, I'm sure of it. If only I could figure out the connection.

"C'mon, I have a feeling, and not of the good variety," I said as Riku stood up and I began to walk as if I was on autopilot.

We walked through the dark town and I wondered briefly if it was always night time in this world. Something caught my eye and I saw a familiar brown haired boy running atop the large factory in the second district. I considered showing Riku, but something inside me told me to wait. We would be able to see Sora later.

"Hello," a woman's voice called out to us as we took a short cut through a back alley.

"Look lady, whatever you're selling we ain't... buying?" I said, the statement coming out more like a question due to the woman looking like a witch.

"Au contraire children," she began looking at me disdainfully and I matched her look, "you will probably be very interested in what I have to tell you."

She then fixed Riku with a look that practically screamed pedophile. That or she wanted him for something. I didn't like either possibility, but beggars can't be choosers.

"What about?" Riku asked while glaring daggers at me as if to say 'be nice to the lady who looks like she wants to eat me'.

"It's about your friend Sora. You see darlings, he simply doesn't need you anymore. He has even replaced you with new friends," the woman said.

"No way, Sora would never-" I began, but was cut off.

"But he did. Perhaps it would be best if you see for yourself," she said sadly, as if disappointed.

I suddenly felt sad myself. As if I wanted to prove I was good enough to do anything she asked. I caught myself right before I finished getting pumped up to prove myself. Whoever this lady thinks she is doesn't matter in my book. My head's been messed with enough thank you very much, I don't need someone else telling me what to do.

"Yeah, okay," Riku said as the woman began to walk with the silver head following her like a puppy.

I briefly considered leaving the two, but then remembered my promise to Kairi.

"Damn it Riku," I said under my breath as I began to trudge after them.

We soon saw a familiar sight with a twist. Sora was walking out of a small alley, holding a silver and gold key blade, and suddenly was attacked by six of the creatures from before. Riku and I attacked the creatures, each of us taking three out in one swoop.

"There you are. What's going on?" Riku asked, smiling at the brunette.

Oh sure, Sora gets smiled at while all I get is glared at. Don't mistake me for being jealous of the idiot though.

"Hey Sora, mind telling me where the hell my sister is?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him my usual 'don't f with me' glare.

He flinched and I took that as a bad sign.

"I thought she was with you," he said, looking defeated.

I just sighed and said, "I've officially lost all interest in this conversation. If she isn't with you the next time we see you, I'll castrate both you and Riku with a rusty spoon. I'm going to go ice cream hunting."

I ignored the pleas of Sora and Riku, I went off to find some cookie dough ice cream to drown any negative feelings that I have over finding out that my sister somehow managed to pull a Houdini and disappear from both groups. I swear if she got herself hurt, I'll double her training.

I bought ice cream cone from a small shop and hid in the shadows of the third district with the creepy woman. Riku soon joined us before the woman led us up a set of steps to a small house with a large window that we could see Sora cheerfully talking to several people.

"You see? It's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he simply replaced you with some new friends. Evidently, now he values them more then you. You're better off without that wretched boy. Now think no more of him and come with me. I'll help you find what you're looking for…" the dorogan-onna said in a soothing tone.

Riku just continued to stare at Sora for a moment before saying the words that I was praying he wouldn't.

"Alright," he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Splendid, I will have my servants, the heartless, prepare rooms for both of you. My name is Maleficent by the way," she said as she began to walk away.

"Whoa, hold up. Give us a minute to talk about this," I said as I grabbed Riku's arm and yanked him towards a convenient alley.

"What the hell Riku?" I whisper yelled at him.

"What do you mean Hiyori? Sora abandoned us for new friends." Riku said.

"Get a grip, Sora's as friendly as a hyper puppy. Of course that idiot made new friends, he's my friend and you know firsthand how hard it can be to be my friend," I said, trying to reason with the older boy.

"Hiyori, I'm going with Maleficent whether you like it or not! Feel free to come with me, that or abandon me just like everyone else. I'm going to find Kairi with or without you!" Riku yelled as he stalked back to Maleficent.

"Riku," I whispered pitifully.

I'm not one for being weak, but when one of the few people I truly trust hits certain buttons that they know should not be pushed, it hurts. I do feel like I've been abandoned sometimes because why else would I be floating in the middle of the ocean unless someone tossed me out there? Riku and I share that because his dad abandoned him and his very pregnant mom a few years back. Also, for him to hint at me not wanting to find my sister, who I would do nearly anything for, hurt that he would actually think that low of me.

I thought back to my promise once more and made my decision. I squared my shoulders and walked after the two of them, determined to not show any more weakness or indecision.

We stopped at a wall and Riku then noticed me. He gave me a grateful smile and I just stared back. I don't think I'll be able to talk to the silver head for a while, not after the argument we just had. I'm still reeling a bit from it, but I knew that I'll be fine in an hour or so.

The woman gave me another disdainful stare before opening up a portal like the others. Riku didn't question it before walking in, but I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you hurt me, I'll kick your ass. You hurt Riku, I'll murder you. You hurt my sister, I'll torture you, then kill you. You do more than one, I'll make you wish you were dead. You do all of the above, I'll make you wish you were never born," I growled as I pointed my key blade at the woman's neck.

"Hahaha! Foolish child," she said, her laugh startling me a bit. "You haven't changed at all, have you?"

"Wait, what?" I asked right before she pushed me in.

A lead weight immediately settled on my chest as I began running through the dark tunnel, following the platinum hair that resembled a candle in the pitch black. As I began to run out of breath, I saw the next world. I darted pass Riku and gasped as the sun hit my face. I just stood there for a moment, enjoying the sun on my face and the crisp in my lungs before opening my eyes.

I was in awe. The view was amazing. I was on a cliff that over looked a beautiful crystal valley. There were large, blue crystal stalagmites and several had flat tops that would allow someone to jump on top of them.

"Enjoying the view?" Maleficent's voice came from behind me, startling me out of my trance.

I simply nodded and took a few pictures using my phone before following her and Riku to the castle that was just as magnificent as the valley. She then led us to our rooms. They were a good size with a dresser, small closet, a bookshelf, a twin bed, and a desk. The rooms were right across from each other and each came with their own full bathroom.

"Why do you have copies of our clothes?" I asked Maleficent as I looked in the closet or the room that I had claimed by tossing my bag on the bed.

"Why I was expecting you my dears. Of course I would have everything you would need." she said in a snooty tone that made me want to sucker punch her. Let's see how much I can milk this for.

"But you don't. There's no cable, no internet access, and would it kill you to give us cell phones in case we get separated? And another thing, what if we go on a long mission and we can't sleep at night, some nice music to help us fall asleep. Oh, and let's say we get bored here, trust me, I blow things up when I'm bored, but a nice gaming system will stop that. Of course, I won't always be in my room so a portable system would be nice too," I said as I walked around the room.

I noticed Riku, who was sitting on my bed, suddenly sat up straighter. I knew the boy didn't get electronics very often, and when he did get them, he was normally grounded shortly after. If she did give us the electronics she would score some points with the silver head, but I would two for convincing her hopefully. Also, the boy deserves something to take his mind off everything that's happening right now and what better to do that then mindless killing with very large guns?

The woman saw Riku look a bit more hopeful and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, an X-box and a PS2 were connected to a large TV. Sitting on the desk, a silver laptop with the Greek delta symbol was plugged into a power outlet along with a shiny new cell phone that I've been wanting for the past three months and a shiny red 3DS. I looked at the nightstand by my bed and saw an alarm clock with an I pod touch plugged into it. My gaze returned to the computer and my eyes went glassy. I felt a pull towards the laptop and I knew that whatever information's on it would keep me busy for years.

"Um, Hiyori, you've got a little drool," Riku said.

I wiped at my chin, only to glare at the silver head when I found nothing there.

"That computer should keep you busy for a while. I'm not sure about all of it's functions, but I can tell you that I simply copied a computer that a young woman named Annabeth Chase owns. If it can keep her busy then it should be able to keep you out of trouble." she said before walking to the door. "Dinner's in two hours, and I expect you both to be clean and to have changed clothes. Just put your clothes in the laundry shoot."

She left us alone and we just stared at each other.

"Hiyori, about Traverse Town, I'm-" Riku began with regret in his eyes as if he just realized what he had said.

"Save it," I interrupted, "I'm going to take a shower then check out the laptop."

"But Hiyori," he began.

"You should probably take a shower to Riku, you stink worse then that petting zoo that Kairi dragged us to last year," I told him as I grabbed a set of clothes then slammed the bathroom door in his face.

I knew I was a bit harsh, but so was he. As the hot water poured down my back I thought about all that's happened. None of this seems new to me. It's as if I've done this all before. Maybe I have, it would explain why I'm handling this without to much trouble. It suddenly struck me how much it sucked having amnesia. I finished my shower and swiftly got dressed.

"Okay, if the dorogan-onna's goal was to creep me out, she officially succeeded," I muttered as I saw the bra and underwear pinned to the hangers under the clothes. I expected her to provide underwear, I just didn't think that she would get the size right.

"Stalker," I grumbled as I finished putting on the paint splattered clothes and put my hair into pigtails.

I then walked out of my room and sighed with relief when I noticed that Riku was no where in sight. I plopped down on the bed after grabbing the laptop and started it up. I couldn't help the grin as I saw the keyboard. The keyboard wasn't a normal one, but it had several rows of Greek letters in addition to the English characters. The keyboard looked odd; instead of actual keys with letters, it was digital like a touch screen. I started to play with the slider above the keyboard and raised an eyebrow at the characters changing to ones suitable for typing in Chinese then Japanese and several more languages. I then plugged in the brand new wireless mouse that was near the laptop and went to set up wifi. Oddly enough, the internet was already set up. I just shrugged and started to sift through the documents and noticed that almost all of them were in Greek. I went online and downloaded a good Greek to English translated and started translating a lengthy document with pictures of wings.

"Holy hell," I muttered as I realized that these were plans to make bronze wings that might actually work.

I started to thoroughly search the document and found out that I would need something called celestial bronze. My eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed as I began to search the files for a celestial bronze detector. I found one and smirked when I realized that I should be able to build it by pilfering some items from around the castle.

I glanced at the clock and scowled as I saw that dinner was in five minutes. I decided to set up a password and thought on it for a moment. I made my decision and quickly typed in the words chop cleanly, Kubiriki Orochi in full Japanese characters. I then shut the lid and gently placed the computer on my desk and left the bedroom. As soon as I shut the door, I saw the knob on Riku's door begin to turn. I really didn't want to have to talk to him so I did what any normal person would do when she or she wants to avoid the only person she can rely on for the moment. I ran like hell.

I found the dining hall and entered it then chose a random seat at the table. I then propped my feet up on the table and waited for the other two to arrive. Riku came in minutes later and sat down across from me. He opened his mouth, but I silenced him with a look and me holding my fork as if I was going to stab him (wouldn't be the first time).

Maleficent came in as a clock began to chime signaling 6 o'clock. The plates magically filled themselves with food and I put my feet down before the dorogan-onna could glare at me. I immediately began to put an array of meats, potatoes, and gravies.

"No vegetables?" Maleficent asked me.

"I'll get to those," I answered as I began eating.

As we ate, Maleficent started a conversation about our grades in school. She seemed pleasantly surprised at how smart Riku was until I had to open my mouth and mention that Riku and I had an opportunity to take the SAT or ACT when we were in seventh grade. Riku politely explained what the tests were to the woman and for the first time she seemed generally impressed with me. Soon dinner was over and we moved on to dessert; strawberry shortcake. I nearly moaned when the cake touched my tongue. If I have to be in the bad guys' hideout, at least the food's good. As soon as dinner was done, we went our separate ways and I ran back to my room to get back to work on the laptop.

"Hiyori, wait!" Riku yelled as he grabbed my wrist.

"What?" I asked, clearly miffed at the boy for stopping me from continuing exploring my new toy.

"Really, about Traverse Town, I don't know what came over me. I'm sor-" Riku tried to say but I cut him off.

"Listen, I don't know what exactly is going on, but the dorogan-onna's working some kind of mind control," I said, fairly calmly considering how irked I am at the boy for disrupting my research.

"Can you build something to stop it?" Riku asked, suddenly serious.

"I don't know, but I sure as hell can try," I said, a cocky smirk in place on my face as I began to plot with Miyori helping.

"Good, hey, really though, I'm-"

"If you say sorry, I'll kick your ass."

"In your dreams," Riku replied as we fell back into our easy pattern of bantering.

I waited a moment before he started to walk off. I then kicked his butt, literally before smirking at the look on his usually stoic face. I then ran off to the safety of my room before the teen could exact his revenge.

As soon as I reached my room I jumped on my bed and turned on my laptop and began rapidly typing and searching for the list of parts to make a celestial bronze detector. I hit the print button once I found the list and raised my eyebrows as a list of parts popped out of the side of the machine. I grabbed the list and quietly slipped out of my room with an empty messenger bag.

I stealthily slipped through the castle unnoticed and collected parts along the way. As the bag began to get heavy I realized that all I needed was a lightning gem. As I snuck through the boiler room a glint caught my eye.

"Hello lightning gem," I whispered as I pocketed the gem lying on the floor.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and I resisted the urge to scream. I turned around but saw no one until a slight shimmer caught my eye. I felt a light tug on my hair as one of my hair ties came undone, then the other. A lock of my hair then started to float in front of my face as if someone was dangling it in front of me.

"Umm, are you a ghost or am I just crazy? Hold one band up for ghost, two for crazy," I said in a very low voice then sighed as only one of my hair bands floated up.

"Okay, I've got to find a better way to communicate with you then. How's this sound, if you put my hair back up in pigtails for me, I'll see if there's any way to help you," I offered.

"I'll take that as a yes," I said as my hair was pulled back up into it's pigtails.

"I'll get started soon, okay? But right now I have to help my friend," I explained.

I hoped the ghost understood as I ran back to my room and began to assemble the detector according to the instructions. Around ten Riku poked his head in to say goodnight before heading back to his room. As soon as I finished the detector I checked the clock and cursed when I realized it was nearly four a.m. I then brushed my teeth and got ready for bed before turning the lights off and relaxing on the soft mattress.

A feeling of dread washed over me as I realized that tomorrow was going to suck.

_Oh yes_, I thought, _tomorrow is going be a _very_ bad day._

* * *

me: Also, I've come up with a better idea then just discontinuing this story or R+V Next Gen so this story is safe and to say sorry for the scare. Another thing, Maleficent made a complete copy of Annabeth Chase's laptop from the Percy Jackson series and the story takes place after The Mark of Athena and probably after the next book. I figure since Hiyori used to be a scientist she would love to be able to play with that laptop. Reveiw please.


	6. the missions and the magic

me: I forgot to mention in last chapter but dorogan-onna means dragon woman. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter considering it's not longer then four thousand words, but for about six hours of work I hope it's not too bad. Also, I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker, hopefully before Christmas. I do sincerely apologize for the lateness of this chapter, internet problems, school killing me over and over and over again, going to see my relatives for a week, coupled with my computer having to be sent in to the shop for repairs and me being banned from my dad's and my mom's running slower then molasses (not sure if I spelled that right) is the culprit. I didn't have the foresight to work on this chapter and write it down on paper. On the upside, I'm planning a Christmas special! So, that's good, right? More good news! For me anyway. For the first time in this story I can say that I have two people to thank for reveiws! Also, I've named Gin my personal assistant so Gin, would you like to do the honors?

Gin: Don' mind if I do. Tii-chan17 and ultima-owner.

me: Thank you very much for the reveiws and putting up with my sucky update times. Lastly, the usual apology for any oocness. Enjoy!

* * *

I groaned loudly when the smell of bacon reached my nose. I didn't open my eyes but I did stick my tongue out only to be able to lick the salty greasy meat before someone pulled it back. My eyes opened just enough to glare at the snickering silver head before I swung at him.

He dodged and tossed the strip of meat, that I then caught in my mouth, and told me in a sing-song voice, "Breakfast is almost ready."

"I swear that boy's gay," I muttered around the heavenly meat as I grabbed a set of clothes.

I took a quick shower and packed my back pack. I noticed mine had disappeared and a black one had taken it's place. The black one must've been under a spell to hold my new laptop, Ipod, four sets of clothes, a small travel pack of toiletries, my DS, phone, and sketchpad. I then ran to the dining room and plopped down in the chair closest to Riku. We didn't have to wait long, but that didn't stop Riku from making a joke about my stomach eating itself from the sounds it was making.

I didn't have the energy to smack him from staying up late last night though. Soon, breakfast was served and I was delighted that I didn't have to deal with the Dorogan-onna glaring at me while I'm eating. No dragon woman and no Kairi means that Riku and I get to do our favorite breakfast time activity. Pancake eating contest. We managed to shove about seven in our mouths a piece before Maleficent came in. I forced myself to swallow the blob of pancakes caught in my throat and gave her a toothy grin, my mouth covered in syrup. I knew that as long as Riku would pull childish stunts with me, he'd be safe from the cougar.

Riku swallowed the mass of syrup, butter, and strawberries and smiled sheepishly. That made my smile turn into a glare. Riku is not sheepish. Period. It just doesn't happen. Soon, breakfast was over and we cleaned our hands and faces. We then gathered in a large room with a heart shaped emblem that's pulsing with dark energy.

The emblem made me a bit fidgety, but I just ground my teeth and barred it.

"Riku, Hiyori," Maleficent began, saying Riku's name sweetly while saying mine as if it were acidic. "This is our goal. Kingdom Hearts, the way to the heart of all worlds. With it, we can rule all the worlds. To complete Kingdom Hearts, we need seven pure hearts. We have four at the moment. With your help, we shall complete Kingdom Hearts."

"What's in it for us?" I growled as I tried to keep my hands from shaking.

"Why this of course," the woman said as she waved her hand and a trail of sparks floated in.

They slowly floated to the ground and turned into one of the last people I wanted to see here.

"Kairi!" Riku and I cried out as we rushed to the unconscious girl's side.

"She won't wake up, pity. I can help you though, for a price," Maleficent said sweetly.

"You bitch! Give me my sister back now!" I shouted as I charged the woman.

I saw her eyes widen slightly as I disappeared from view, only to reappear behind her. I slashed downward only to have her block. She muttered a few word under her breath in a language I couldn't understand and flung a fire ball at me. I dodged and snarled like an enraged animal.

"Stop both of you! Hiyori, we need her to help Kairi," Riku said as he jumped in between us.

I glared at him while walking closer. He winced and shut his eyes. Smart boy. Three seconds later he was on the ground clutching his crotch and I dispelled my key blade.

"Now now, Riku, Hiyori, I will be more then happy to give you back Kairi if you help me. I did not do this to her, but if we can achieve Kingdom Hearts, then her heart shall be restored," Maleficent explained.

I've gotten pretty good at telling when people are lying, but I don't have much of a choice right now. "What do we have to do?"

"Well, go to different worlds of course, seek out pure hearts and bring them back. I have a lead on a world called Wonderland. Hiyori, Riku, you two are to come back in an hour and there will be a portal awaiting you. On the other side is a princess. Bring her to me and soon you shall be rewarded," Maleficent vowed.

We nodded, Riku confidently and me with a glare on my face before Maleficent used a portal to go who knows where while we went to pack.

"Do you want to spar after we pack?" I asked the teen.

"Sure," he answered quietly as I picked up my sister's unconscious body and we headed towards the bedrooms.

We chose the one closest to mine and gently laid her down in the bed. I helped Riku pack, seeing as I had already packed in hopes of leaving this place and finding our own way, and we looked for a place to spar. We soon found out the room that would hold the portal is a great place to fight. Little did we know what fate would have in store for us in this room. We fought for a little while until the portal showed up and we walked through it. Well, Riku walked, I sprinted. We came out in a forest where a familiar brunette was facing away from us.

We ducked behind a large tree and slowly walked backwards, cursing our luck. The portal had to spit us out here didn't it? We made our way out of the cartoony forest and into a...tea party?

"Happy unbirthday!" a short man wearing a green hat said loudly.

"Would you like some tea?" a ragged looking brown rabbit asked while pouring tea in a cup with a hole in the bottom making the tea go right through the cup.

I've seen a lot of weird things in my short life but this is defiantly in the top three.

I decided to just skip straight to the point; this world's giving me a migraine. "Have you seen a girl who was probably very nice and tried to help with anything she could?"

"Yeah, probably cute too," Riku added. Does it need to be said that I gave him my signature death glare?

"Uh uh uhh, tea first!" the short guy insisted.

I sighed and decided to play along; Kairi did tell me to not kill any one. I reached for a cup of hot tea, hoping it might clam me down only to have the ragged rabbit grab it and take it away. I groaned and reached for my migraine pills only to feel my eye twitch in annoyance when I realized they weren't there. I sat down and rubbed my temples. My eye twitched again when the short guy chastised me for sitting down without permission.

"It really is rude you know," he said.

Twitch, twitch.

"Yeah, but that's just her," Riku this time.

Twitch, twitch, twitch.

"Tea?" the rabbit offered only to snatch the cup away when I tried to grab the soothing liquid.

TWITCH, TWITCH.

"How rude!" "I know right! Try living within a mile of her."

TWITCH! TWITCH! F-ING TWITCH!

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND GIVE ME EITHER SOME F-ING TEA OR MY GOD DAMN MIGRAINE PILLS!" I shouted hitting everything within range with my key blade.

"Now," I snarled at the short guy. "Have you seen a girl around here?"

He nodded. "Y-yes, she's at the trial, suspected of stealing the queen's heart but she's way too nice to do that."

I snatched a cup of tea before the rabbit could take it away from me and drank it, relaxing as the hot liquid slid down my throat. "Thank you." I told them, much calmer now.

As Riku and I walked out of the area following the signs that said 'to the trial!', I heard the green hat guy mutter something. "And they say _I'm_ mad."

I snickered a bit. Well, my headache's gone and I didn't even need to kill or maim any one.

"Oh, uh, Hiyori," Riku started.

"Yeah?" I prodded.

"Um, here," he mumbled, passing me a small white bottle. The bottle read 'Hiyori Hikari. Migraine pills. Take one by mouth every six hours. Do not take more then four times a day' . Then under that in red sharpie it said 'Do not touch unless you are willing to be beaten within an inch of your life.' Do I really need to explain what happened next? Let's just say this, Riku finished this mission on crutches.

We made our way to the trial with Riku limping the whole way and saw something that only surprised us slightly. Sora was beating a bunch of playing cards up using his silver and gold key blade. I shook my head as we snuck around the area and made our way to a cage suspended in the air. I swiftly climbed the vine to get to the cage while Riku discreetly kept the cards at bay. Once I got to the top, I was faced with the next obstacle; getting the girl to agree to come with me.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked the frightened blonde.

"Alice, are you here to rescue me?" she asked.

"Yeah, come on," I took her into my arms and easily leapt down to the ground below.

"I've got her, let's go," I told Riku who nodded.

We made our way back into the forest where a portal was waiting.

"That doesn't look very safe," Alice said, clearly worried.

"It'll be fine as long as you hold your breath. It's kind of hard to breathe in there but it's the quickest way to get to where we want to go," I insisted.

She nodded hesitantly but let Riku go first. After the silver head was in the portal, we both took a deep breath and began to run. We made it through but Alice seemed slightly shaken.

"Riku, Hiyori," Maleficent greeted. "Well done. Sleepra."

She must've cast a spell because Alice fell to the floor, unconscious. I jumped slightly at it, but reminded myself that it was only temporary and I'd fix everything in the end. I tuned out the rest of the meeting. It consisted mainly of Maleficent singing praises to Riku and talking with her associates while doing everything she can to ignore me. Eventually we went back to Hollow Bastion and I went straight to my room. After a quick shower, I passed out on my bed for a few hours.

When I woke up, I got on the laptop and found a machine that would let me talk to the ghost in the basement. I gathered about a sixth of the items but soon realized that I would need to go to a variety of worlds to get the rest. I assembled what I could and by then it was dinner time. I ate with Riku and Maleficent like the night before and headed back to my room. I passed out on my bed and slept through the night.

The next morning I woke up around 4:00 a.m. but couldn't get back to sleep. I got up and made myself a quick breakfast before jotting a note down for Riku letting him know that I'd be exploring and that I've already eaten. I gave the note to an invisible servant and started my exploration of the castle. I found a few dungeons, a room full of teleporters, and a beautiful purple crystal labyrinth. Much to my disappointment, Riku texted me to let me know that we had a new mission less then a minute into my exploration of the labyrinth.

I flash stepped back to outside the main hall and walked in to stand near Riku. I then was forced to listen to the old hag drone on and on about 'our goal' (more like her goal) and how we were going to a new world today. Some place called Agrabah.

Once we got there, I noticed it was a desert. Would it be too much to ask for a normal world to visit? What's next, the belly of a whale? I bought a canteen from some weird merchant and we began our hunt. We agreed (big surprise there! No, literally) that the most logical place to search would be in the castle. It was surprisingly easy to make our way in but then something weird happened.

"Hello Hiyori, Riku," a smooth voice greeted.

We whirled around but Riku relaxed once he saw who it was. "Is it safe to assume that you're the help Maleficent mentioned, Jafar?"

"Why yes, I am. I have located the princess and am ready to capture her, then you can take her back to Maleficent," the man who reminded me of a snake said.

"Fine, but if you mess up, I'm doing this myself," Riku said bluntly.

I didn't say a word. I've gotten better at waiting and listening while letting big mouth do the talking sometimes. Plus, this guy gave me the creeps.

We were led to a large area with pots scattered around. Jafar explained his plan, but neither of us really paid him any attention. Instead we were observing the area and each found a perfect hiding spot to spy on Sora and see how capable Jafar really was. When we heard foot steps we darted to our hiding spots and watched as Sora ran into the area.

I would explain to you how the fight went and give you a play-by-play and shit, but I got bored within the first minute and a half so I started drawing. On the upside, I drew a really cool picture of this suit of armor. Riku filled me in that Sora won but Jafar managed to get a hold of a magic genie and is now in a place called the Cave of Wonders. Apparently we have to track him down and then get the princess.

We got a lift from a nice flying carpet and flew straight into the mouth of a giant stone tiger. We flew through the maze inside the cave and made it to the treasure room. We looked at each other and stuffed our bags. Hey, don't look at me that way, haven't you ever heard the phrase don't look a gift horse in the mouth? After we were done filling our bags, we ran into the next chamber.

"Whoa," I breathed out at the huge hole in the floor. I looked down and saw Sora and his friends fighting a big red genie that I assumed was Jafar. Magma was surrounding them and I was slightly worried, but I knew Sora was tough enough to get out of this mess.

Riku grabbed the unconscious princess and another portal opened up near us. We ran through it and came out in the same room That we handed Alice over in. Maleficent praised us again but something struck a cord with me.

Don't these girls have families too? Won't they worry about their daughters or sisters or nieces? Is what we're doing wrong? Well, it is kidnapping I guess. Are we on the wrong side even if it will be fixed in the end? It doesn't matter though, not in the long run anyway. I'll fix anything I screw up.

I took a quick shower then went to the dinning room for dinner. Like the previous nights, it was delicious. Maleficent announced that we won't be receiving a mission for a few days so I assigned myself a new task. I would be exploring the caverns every chance I get. Maleficent also announced that she would be teaching us a bit of magic to make fighting easier. After dinner I played with my new gaming systems for a few hours before heading to bed. I fell asleep quickly, noticing how draining world travel is.

The next morning I reported early for magic training. Maleficent first taught us the fire spell. I aced it on the first try, a gentle voice giving me hints and tips. The voice was soothing and kind, offering me gentle encouragement. Maleficent seemed impressed with me and gave me two more spells to work on, blizzard and thunder. Blizzard was easy for me also with the voice's help and thunder was even easier. Maleficent tasked me then with the spells aero, gravity, and magnet. Once again, it came to me as if I've learned it all before. The last spell she taught me was cure to heal. I did it fairly easily and wasn't even as drained as I was supposed to be.

Maleficent then gave me a near suicidal task: try to make the fire stop blowing up in Riku's face. I tried to help best I could but his fire just wasn't very powerful. We learned that if he combined his dark aura with the fire, it wouldn't blow up. It drained him a bit more though, so his 'homework' of the day was to work on stamina. Mine was to try to generate more then one ball of fire, ice, or lightning. I decided to practice tomorrow and explore the caves today. Riku told me that he has to find his own area to practice so I took that opportunity to slip away.

I summoned my glider, a trick I learned the other day, and flew to Traverse Town. I bought some climbing equipment before flying back to Hollow Bastion and began to thoroughly explore the caverns I got as far as some conveyor belts when the alarm on my phone went off signaling dinner time. I flash stepped out of the cave and to the dinning hall right before Maleficent came in.

Like all other nights so far, we ate dinner and I went straight to my room to take a shower then sleep. The next day we were given a mission in the belly of a whale. Why did I have to jinx it?

_Dunno' boss, but thing's could be worse, _Miyori said trying to cheer me up.

_You just jinxed it you jack ass! I mentally shouted at her._

* * *

me:I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I apologize again for the lateness of it. The reason why Hiyori learned magic so quickly is that she already learned it so it was kind of muscle memory or something. I had to have it blow up in Riku's face though. I had fun writing the scene with the mad hatter. Sorry if the Wonderland bunch is ooc but I've actually never seen the original Disney Alice in Wonderland. I know, I'm a bit ashamed. Yes, I did give Hiyori migraine meds because I figured that her adoptive parents would take her to the doctors because of her headaches every time she sees something reminding her of her past. Another quick thing, the voice in Hiyori's head is her memories of Aqua helping her with magic seeing as Aqua is a magic master. Last thing, the cave is the one from Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix. Great game by the way.


	7. Heart no Kuni no Hiyori

me: Phew, done. I'm free! I'm very sorry that I didn't upload on time and that I'm (according to my clock) four hours late but I have a good excuse!

Hiyori: No she doesn't.

me: After being stuffed with holiday food, I passed out on the couch and no one woke me up.

Miyori: Not good enough.

me: Kya! No double teaming! Anyway, the manga that I used in this extra long chapter is Heart no Kuni no Alice. I will be doing a chapter like this every once in a while, but probably not again in this book. I actually liked the way this turned out. I would've finished the first volume of the manga but I didn't think you all would like waiting until after the first of the year. Happy Holidays peoples! Oh, and I'd like to thank my two consistant reveiwers, Tii-chan17 and Ultima-Owner.

* * *

I woke up early the next morning due to the loud music blaring from my alarm clock. Damn, that thing is loud. I did my morning routine before heading out to the courtyard to practice my magic. I'm working on turning the large purple cavern that I discovered into my training grounds but until then I'm going to have to use an old courtyard I found yesterday. So far I've mastered firaga, the most powerful form of fire, blizaga, the most powerful form of blizzard, and thundaga, the most powerful form of thunder. I'm working on cura, the second stage of cure, and I expect to be done with it by tonight. I can't wait until the cavern is set up! They have naturally spawning heartless that aren't loyal to Maleficent so it even comes with a supply of targets.

I'm not sure where Riku practices, but I hope he's got a handle on his magic. It would be hilarious if a fire ball blows up in his face in the middle of a fight, but it could also get him killed. Not that I like him or anything, I just have the unfortunate task of making sure he doesn't end up in a casket. I wonder how Kairi's doing. Well, how her heart's doing. I have a feeling she somewhere off relaxing now while I do all the hard work.

Working with Maleficent could be worse I guess. I get free good food, wifi so I've sent our parents messages telling them we're fine and that they don't need to worry. I haven't checked back yet for their lectures, I'll let Riku open that headache. I also have the amazing laptop that will keep me busy for the rest of my life and then some. Then there's my new friend the ghost in the basement. Yesterday I went to a different world and got the rest of the supplies I needed and also met a guy who actually has a brain. We talked inventions for a bit and that's how I got the celestial bronze I needed.

Suddenly, without me realizing it, three bolts of lightning shot out of my key blade. I blinked twice in shock. That… wasn't supposed to happen. I was aiming for one strong blast of lightning. Magic is more of an art form then anything and it's hard to master but pretty fun when you do finally get it. I guess I should probably take a quick shower and get to breakfast, we do have a mission today after all.

I got to breakfast barely on time as usual and the Dorogan-onna glared at me as normal. I didn't pay her any attention and just started shoveling French toast and crispy bacon in my mouth. I relished every time she twitched from annoyance. It was fun pissing her off, but she felt the same way about me. Long story short, we hate each other and if there's a chance to irk the other, we'll take it.

After breakfast, Riku and I were told to pack and then report to the main hall. We did as asked (read ordered) and were soon in the room with the creepy emblem. I stared at it. It stared back at me. I hate that thing, it's pulsing with dark energy and always makes me a bit edgy. Maleficent knows this so she makes me get in the same room as it as much as possible. The emblem's not the only thing that bothers me, the fact that Riku's unaffected by the darkness isn't a good thing. I think it means he's too close to darkness.

"Today you shall be going to Monstro, the whale," Maleficent said much to my displeasure.

Really? Would any one else like to ruin my day? I do not want to go deep sea diving in the stomach of a whale. Who knows what that thing ate. Well, I probably will before the end of the day. My hatred of puke and things in the stomach comes from when Kairi brought home the stomach bug once and our parents were on a business trip. I had to take care of her and ever since then I've been wary of anything that comes out of a stomach the same way it came in.

"Um, Hiyori, you're looking a little green," Riku said.

"Remember that time Kairi had the stomach flu?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Oh, I get it. You've seen enough puke for a while. Maleficent, can I take this mission and Hiyori stay here?"

"Why? I figured you would jump at the chance to see Sora Miss Hikari*," Maleficent said, false confusion coloring her tone.

"Kairi once had the stomach flu and our parents were out of town. I don't do well with half digested food now," I explained.

She just nodded and summoned a portal for Riku. The silver head patted me on the shoulder and told me to get some water before darting off into the portal. I felt a little bit bad about making Riku go alone to confront Sora but my stomach would just not be able to take being in the stomach of a whale.

I walked too the kitchen and got a glass of ice water. The cold liquid helped soothe my upset stomach enough that I determined it was safe to train a bit. I ran to the cave and put the finishing touches on the cavern. It wasn't that different, I just put a few extra supports up in weaker areas so I wouldn't cause a cave in. I meditated for a little while due to my stomach doing flip flops again.

A half hour later, my stomach was fully calmed and I could concentrate on the complicated new spell I was learning. This one takes too long to charge up and way too much energy. It's still a powerhouse though which is good but only when you have some one watching your back.

A few hours later I was done with magic practice and a few katas for the day so I decided to relax for a bit. I ran through the castle, took a shower and went hunting for a quiet spot to read my new manga that appeared on my bed after my shower.

I found a quiet alcove with a beautiful stained glass window that I settled down in. The sun was shining through the window so it had warmed the spot that had a nice fluffy pillow on it. I guess this spot is normally used for reading or something. It seems like a good spot to relax. The manga one of the servants probably left me is pretty good. I've never heard of it before but I'm gonna' have to find the rest of the series.

Hmm, this spot is really comfy and I am a bit worn out from training. A little nap couldn't hurt, right? I let my eyes drift close and fell into a restful slumber.

Welcome to Wonderland!

"Hey, did you know? Games always have rules. It's decided from the beginning… you knew that, right?" a male voice said.

"…Please," I replied, my mouth moving on it's own.

"Alright, I'll lend a hand. There, now they're connected." the man who's face I could see told me.

What's connected? What game? I wanted to ask. I didn't get a chance though because then I woke up.

I looked around. I'm pretty sure I didn't fall asleep under a tree. And what's with this dress that I'm wearing?

"Hey you, you're supposed to be following me," an annoyed looking rabbit wearing a suit said.

"Oh, I get it, I'm still dreaming. Look, the only thing I need to be doing on my day off is getting some very needed r&r," I told him before laying back down and yawning.

"What are you doing?! You have to chase me!" the rabbit yelled coming closer.

I just folded my arms behind my head and ignored the rabbit.

"I guess it can't be helped," the rabbit said, his high voice turning smooth and deeper.

I squeaked (not that I'd ever admit it) as an arm wrapped around my waist and I was hoisted over a man's shoulder.

"Please don't scream in my ear," the man requested.

"Wha? Who are you?! Put me down right now or you'll regret it!" I shouted.

I twisted around a bit and was surprised when I realized the man was actually kind of cute. He had handsome features and almost shoulder length white hair. Two rabbit ears sat on top of his head and round glasses framed ruby eyes. I quickly noticed that he was wearing the same suit as the rabbit from earlier only bigger of course. It's not possible for animals to turn into humans, right?

The man chuckled as I tried to kick him in the face. "No can do! I'll put you down when we get there. We're going into that hole." He pointed to a large, circular hole in the ground.

"Hole? Why the hell would we go into that hole damn it?!" I shouted at the man who I'm pretty sure belongs in an insane asylum.

"Hmm, I wonder why… But if there's a hole, then you have to jump in!" he said cheerily before tossing me in the hole.

I would never admit I screamed, but let's be realistic here, wouldn't you scream if you were plummeting to your probable death?

"No! I don't want to die yet!" I screamed, thinking of how I have to help my sister, keep bullies away from Sora, and keep Riku out of jail.

"What was that?" the rabbit eared man asked, still perfectly calm. "You don't want to arrive yet? Oh, are you obsessed with the feeling of falling?"

"No, that's not it you jackass!" I shouted.

"Isn't it fun to fall?" he asked. "When I'm falling with you it's even more fun. I might become obsessed too. Alas, we can't fall forever."

Great, I'm going to die with some creepy ass dude staring at me like a lecher.

I closed my eyes and just breathed until I felt a solid floor beneath me.

"Huh?" I asked myself as I opened my eyes to see that I was fine.

"This is Wonderland," the man said.

"Wonderland?" I questioned, looking around in wonder, no pun intended.

"Welcome to Wonderland Hiyori!" he announced with a wide grin.

"Huh? Wonderland… I've never heard of it. And how do you know my name?" I asked.

"Of course I know your name, I love you." he stated confidently.

Great, a stalker with bunny ears, just what I need right now.

"Look, if you take me back to Hollow Bastion right now, I might not have to hurt you too badly," I told him.

"That's impossible, but…" he trailed off for a moment while reaching in his pocket and pulling out a vial with a heart shaped cork. "Here, please drink it."

"What? Are you stupid? Who would take something from a stranger and drink it? I'm not drinking it!" I told him while trying to stand up. I was startled to find that I couldn't move at all. My arms wouldn't respond and my legs were frozen.

"Hmm, that's a problem," he remarked while walking towards me.

"Don't come near me!" I shouted. "Quit playing around. Why would I drink something from a pervert like you?!"

"Aren't you curious to know my name?" he asked, leaning in closer to examine my face. "I see~. If you're curious then you must like me."

"No way in hell! Why would I like some creeper like you?!" I yelled.

_Um hey, boss lady, umm, maybe you shouldn't yell at the hot stalker in bunny ears when you can't move your limbs but he can, _Miyori commented nervously.

"Oh, I just thought," the rabbit eared boy said, tilting his head in confusion and stepping back. If he wasn't insane he really would be pretty cute. "Hmm, I see, that's right, it wouldn't be that easy. The game would be boring if it was that easy."

I watched in surprise as he uncorked the bottle and drank the liquid.

"A game…" I parroted as the words from the other dream repeated in my head.

_Hey, did you know? Games always have rules, it's decided from the beginning._

My eyes widened as he grabbed my chin with just enough force so I couldn't move my head. He wouldn't… would he? His lips connected with mine and the liquid from the bottle drained out of his mouth and into mine, forcing me to swallow it.

"I'm lending you a hand because you complain a lot. If you drink it all, I'll let you go," he said once he stepped back.

I swallowed the last of the liquid figuring if I drank most of it already, a little more can't do that much more damage.

"You drank it!" he proclaimed cheerfully. His voice grew serious as he continued talking. "This is the potion of hearts. Once you drink it, you must participate in the game. Oh, my name is Peter, Peter White. Now Hiyori, the game begins. Let's meet again."

And he disappeared, just like that.

I shakily stood up, glad that my limbs were working again.

"I can't believe that ass kissed me," I growled. There goes my first kiss.

That stopped me for a second. He really did steal my first kiss. I roughly ran a hand through my hair and I noticed for the first time my hair wasn't in its pigtails that I always put it into. I actually hope I see him again, that way I can kick his ass until he begs for mercy.

_Hey, albino_, I asked Miyori, paying no attention to the nickname that came naturally to me. _The fuck do ya' think he made me drink._

_I dunno' boss, whatever it is, I don't think it's toxic. He said he loved you, right? Creeper or not, most people don't kill the people they love_, Miyori reasoned.

_True, now let's find a way out of this place and back to Hollow Bastion,_ I told her before setting off in a random direction figuring it was as good of a place to start as any.

After a while of walking (and Miyori and I discussing our painful revenge on rabbit boy(I refuse to call him Peter)) I made it to a mansion.

Hmm, the people who live here must know something about rabbit boy. He must be famous around here seeing as I'm sure there aren't very many perverts with bunny ears.

Nice gate but no guards? Doesn't add up. I wonder if I can get in.

"Onee-san," a boy's voice said from behind me. "Do you have business in this mansion?"

"Yeah, not formally but I need to ask the person who lives here a question," I said, turning before turning around.

My hand twitched at the surprising sight before me. Two boys, twins by the look of it, no older then twelve or thirteen, holding large black axes. They had short dark hair that hung in their faces and were wearing a uniform of some kind.

"We're the guards here," the one in the darker uniform said.

"We get rid of all trespassers," the one in the lighter uniform finished. "You don't look like a bad person but…"

"People aren't always as they seem," the darker one finished. It's official, twins who finish each other's sentences are now added to list of people that irk me.

"Don't worry!" the darker one said. "It won't hurt that much, right brother?"

"Yup, let's kill her brother," the lighter one said as they both grinned and raised their weapons.

"We're not letting you go!" they shouted simultaneously as I began to summon my key blade.

"Hey, you two, what are you doing?" a man with wavy, shoulder length, blond hair and rabbit ears asked. "Isn't she a guest? That woman. I don't want my pay docked."

_Does everyone here have rabbit ears? _I mentally ask my self but still kept on high alert.

"Don't get in our way newbie hare," the lighter twin said, annoyance tinged his voice.

"Says the guys who were slacking off might I add…" the blonde man commented. "Are you really a guest? Or are you a spy?"

"I'm-" I started but was cut off.

"Well, I don't care either way," he said, my eyes widening a bit at the large hand gun he pulled out and aimed at my throat. "Let me handle this one, I want to test this gun."

I guess it's time to put my magic to the test. I started to say reflect as he pulled the trigger but I was pulled out of the way.

"Stop," a velvety voice commanded. "I told you not to kill anyone on the premises without my consent."

The blonde man muttered something. "Blood…"

I looked up at the man who prevented me from getting some real practice with what may be the most important spell in my arsenal while pulling away from him. He was handsome, like all the people I've seen so far in this weird world. When I think about it, he actually looks a lot like rabbit boy. He had shiny black hair that was just that right amount of messy that most girls went gaga for but I just found it weird looking. He had dark eyes that revealed no emotion and a top hat with playing cards and roses stuck to it on his head.

"You are welcome young lady," he said, smiling down at me.

With all the weapons around, I know I can't win this fight. Besides, these people all look like nut jobs. I'll find someone sane to help me. I took off running, ignoring their calls. I soon noticed the sky was suddenly dark.

"Huh, it was day just a second ago," I muttered staring at the starry sky.

I ran up the steps of a clock tower and saw a person at the top.

"Who's there?" the man demanded in a British accent.

"Me," I replied cheekily.

"What are you doing here? Get out!" he said angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone lived here," I explained, uncharacteristically calm. "I was kidnapped by some guy with rabbit ears, he said his name's Peter."

"I don't care, just get out! Leave this instant!" the man said, grabbing my arm.

"Hey! Cut me some slack! What's with you? Even if you tell me to go back, I can't! I've been kidnapped and thrown down a hole, then I was forced to drink some potion and I was almost killed by some psycho guards!" I yelled back, my temper flaring as I yanked my arm back.

"Potion?" he questioned, his anger melting away into an emotion I couldn't identify.

"Yeah, it was in this," I told him, showing him the bottle with the heart shaped cork.

"What have you done…?" he asked. "…then that means you're a foreigner. When you said 'Peter', did you mean Peter White?"

"Yeah," I answered cautiously.

"So he brought you here without my permission…that rabbit!" he said, annoyance in his tone before he turned towards a door. "It can't be helped, I'll explain, follow me."

He led me to a room with a table and two cups of hot tea and gestured for me to sit down.

"I am Julius Monrey, master of this clock tower. Now Hiyori Sarugaki, you are a foreigner, not from this country. I have heard that foreigners may come here if they wish but…" he said but I interrupted him.

"I didn't wish for this!" I protested.

"Yes, you did say that you were forced here. This country is dangerous to foreigners who are wandering about. Guessing from what you said, this mansion you were at belongs to the Hatter. Elliot March and the Blood twins, they swing their weapons around all the time, I'm surprised you even survived. You must be pretty lucky," Julius explained.

"A man stopped him, I think his name's Blood," I told the dark haired man.

"Blood Dupre? He's the mafia boss," Julius said.

"Mafia?" I questioned before sipping my tea.

"Yes, they're called the Blood family and Blood Dupre is the boss."

"I ran away after he pulled me out of the way but he said not to kill without his permission," I said.

"You would've been killed if he had permitted it. They're crazy, it's best to stay away from them," he then pulled out a map. "I'll explain the other territories. The Castle of Hearts is ruled by the Queen of Hearts, the Amusement Park is ruled by a man named Gowland, and this is the center between those three territories, the Clock Tower Square which is where we are now. This is the only neutral area, the others are involved in a power struggle."

_Huh, I get the mafia and the queen, but the Amusement Park is a bit weird. Miyori, any commentary from the peanut gallery? _I asked the girl.

_Not really boss except that this world is über weird,_ the girl said unhelpfully.

"The three way battle, it'll probably continue for a while. It's a meaningless game. It has nothing to do with foreigners so it's best you stay out of it," Julius told me.

"Well, the power struggle explains why people were aiming weapons at everything that twitches," I remarked.

"Ahh, that too but I'm sure you'll figure it out real soon," the clock master said.

"I almost feel bad about saying this after you explained all this shit to me but I've gotta' get back to Hollow Bastion and soon. This friend of mine, he can barely tie his own shoes without help, much less survive. I have no intention of getting involved with this hot mess considering I have my own to deal with. I can make it by myself, just point me in the right direction," I told him.

"Impossible, you can not leave alone," Julius dismissed.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my temper under control. "Then take me home."

"That's not the problem. "You cannot leave alone", that's the rule of the game you, the foreigner, are participating in," Julius explained.

"What do you mean? You and rabbit boy keep saying things about a game and rules," I said angrily before glancing out the window. My eyes widened in shock at what I saw. "Wha? But… it was just night a few minutes ago! How can the sun be setting?"

"It's normal in this world, don't make a big fuss over it," the dark haired man said.

_A dream_, echoed in my head. _This is a dream._

"A dream, this is a dream," I found myself saying. "Is this a world inside a dream?"

"If you think this is a dream, that's fine, but this, is a never-ending dream unless you progress in the game." Julius said. "You had the chance to leave when you first arrived but because of that potion Peter made you drink, you must participate in the game."

_Hey, did you know?_

"Your game is whether or not you can return to your world and "you cannot play the game alone" therefore "you cannot leave alone". Look at the bottle again," Julius instructed.

I looked and noticed the once empty bottle had a small amount of liquid in it.

_Games always have rules._

"It was empty before!" I exclaimed.

"As I thought," the clock master said. "Peter White, the Hatter, and now me… as you meat others, liquid will accumulate. That is the key to returning to your world and the rule for this game is "Once the bottle is filled the time to return home will come"."

"Well that's easy enough, I'll just meet new people and then I can go back," I said confidently and ignoring Miyori's comments about the disasters that'll happen.

"Easy huh?" Julius muttered.

_So you know already right?_

Unknown to me Peter White was saying something to himself.

"Now we'll be together forever, Hiyori" he said with a smile on his face.

On the Way

"So, Rabbit boy is the Prime Minister in the Castle of Hearts? I'm surprised the place hasn't collapsed yet," I mused.

"It's hard to believe but it's true," Julius said. "Are you going to go see him?"

"Yeah, I wanna' know why he brought me here. This is just a dream right? So I should be fine," I reasoned.

"Keep life precious to you," Julius warned.

"Right, I guess even if it's a dream I can still get hurt," I said mostly to myself. "I'll be back around dark."

I left the tower and started off in the direction Julius told me I would need to go to reach the Castle of Hearts.

_Hey, Miyori? What if… this isn't a dream? _I asked the other girl as I made my way through the forest.

_Hmm, I dunno, I guess we'll just have ta' fill up the bottle then we can go back, _Miyori responded.

_We'll have to be a bit careful though, we can't go back with bullet wounds, _I commented.

I heard some rustling and jumped back, my fingers twitching and ready to summon my sword.

Instead of a gun totting maniac, a cute, grinning auburn haired boy stepped out of the bushes. Unlike rabbit boy, his grin was not lecherous but friendly. He wore a red uniform decorated with black hearts so I assumed he worked at the Castle of Hearts.

"Oh, sorry if I surprised you," he told me, his smile turning sheepish.

"It's fine," I responded. He kind of reminds me of Sora. "Do you know how to get to the Castle of Hearts? I have to hurt I mean, _talk to _Peter White."

"Huh? Yeah of course. I didn't know sir Peter had any acquaintances. He's usually at the castle but I'm not sure if they'll let you in alone. I'm Ace by the way, I'm a knight at the Castle," Ace told me.

"I guess they won't let in just anybody." there goes plan A. "I'm Hiyori Sarugaki."

"It's nice to meet you Hiyori, I'm Ace. I know, I'll take you to the castle!" Ace proposed happily. Yup, just like Sora.

"Thanks Ace," I told him. It looks like my day just got slightly easier.

We started walking but I noticed something immediately. "Um Ace, isn't the castle this way?" I asked, pointing the opposite direction that he was leading me in.

"Nope! I'm sure the castle is this way," he insisted.

I take that thing back about my day becoming easier.

We walked for a while and I started smirking when I realized we were headed towards Blood Dupre's mansion. Maybe I'll get shot at again and I'll get to fight.

"Hey, you do know this is the Hatter's mansion, right?" I asked the knight.

"Huh? But I was sure this is the way," Ace said confused. "I know if we keep going this way we'll reach the castle."

_He's hopeless_, I thought.

_He's cute_, Miyori argued.

"It's you again," a semi-familiar voice said.

I whirled around to see Elliot March without the twins.

"Allowing trespassers in…they're slacking off again. Oh, that foreigner's with you," the man said as he noticed me.

"You're a foreigner?" Ace asked me.

"Yeah, so?" I asked back, raising an eyebrow.

"Wow! Wow! Unbelievable! My first foreigner!" Ace said excitedly.

Elliot waved his hand. "I apologize about earlier. I have no intentions of killing you anymore. Blood's orders. So Ace, what business do you have with the mafia?"

Ace looked surprised. "Why would I have business with the mafia? We're headed towards the castle."

Elliot's expression changed into an extremely annoyed one. "Then you're lost again. This is our turf," he gestured to the mansion. "And any further is the mansion. How many times must I say this?"

"But this is the way to the castle," Ace insisted.

"No it's not!" Elliot stated angrily.

"Huh?" Ace asked. "Oh, I guess I went the wrong way again."

_Hopeless, _I repeated.

_Cute~, _Miyori disagreed.

"Again and again," Elliot growled. "Are you trying to pick a fight when I'm one trigger away from shooting you?"

"Why would I pick a fight?" Ace asked cheerfully. "You saved me the other day, I should be thanking you!"

Elliot twitched and I recognized the telltale signs of someone getting pissed.

Unfortunately, Ace didn't. "I like getting lost, it let's me meet nice people like you!"

I heard a gunshot and was pulled out of the way just before I could cast my spell.

"You dodged it," Elliot remarked. "So I'll make sure you never get lost again."

"That's dangerous, what if you hit the foreigner?" Ace said.

"I have a name you know," I protested.

Elliot didn't care. He just cocked his pistol before saying, "Die!"

I almost got the barrier up this time but Ace pushed me behind a tree.

"Hide here, you'll be safe," he told me.

_You won't be if you won't let me try my spell_, I thought.

_Not the face, _Miyori protested.

_Fine, I'll leave that to bury, _I told her before tuning out her protests.

"Pay attention," Elliot demanded. "I won't miss this time."

As Elliot fired again, Ace hit the blonde's arm with the sword sheath he pulled from his side, redirecting the gun.

Elliot seemed slightly pleased. "Heh, as expected from a knight of hearts. It's pointless to shoot wildly."

After a few more moments of shooting and dodging, Elliot became annoyed again. "You're frustrating damn it."

"Hn, this is going no where," I said, tensing and preparing to jump in.

"Enough is enough," the smooth voice of Blood commanded. "Ah, the troubling young lady again. I will not allow this to continue on my property. Elliot, didn't I tell you not to cause trouble for the young lady?"

Elliot looked like a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "B-but, it's all his fault. He keeps getting lost no matter how many times I tell him!"

"Then just help him, think before you shoot," Blood told the disgruntled blonde.

"I did but it's the same thing everyday," Elliot insisted.

"Elliot," Blood said sharply. "I don't remember giving a complex order."

Elliot's rabbit ears drooped. "I'm sorry." He was even pouting.

"My apologies, please forgive my subordinate," Blood requested.

"Haha, "Forgive"? I'm not even mad. It was no big deal anyway," Ace insisted.

I had to pity Elliot. Judging from his expression and how much his ears were twitching, he clearly was annoyed as I am when someone leaves alone to long with Sora.

Blood decided to step in before Ace irked Elliot any further. "I see, it'll be troublesome for you to wander around here. Elliot and I will guide you in the right direction. Now young lady," he held out a hand to me. "My apologies for putting you in danger again. I promise it will never happen again. Please believe me.

I stared at the hand for a moment and chose my answer carefully. "Thank you, but if given the chance you will find I am quite capable of taking care of myself. If it wasn't for the fact people keep getting in my way with the intention to help, then I would of already proved to you that I can protect myself. Thank you though. I can't say I believe you yet seeing as your men already attacked me twice, the second was after you had already told them to not make an attempt on my life, but I can say I'll give you a chance." I took his hand and gave him a civil smile.

He seemed surprised and slightly disappointed at my answer but I say I'm becoming a decent diplomat. He gave a me a small smile but our moment was spoiled by Elliot. Big surprise there.

"Listen," Elliot said, still annoyed (does he have any other moods?). "The castle is in the opposite direction."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Ace said, starting off in the -you guessed it- wrong direction.

"Hey, you're already going the wrong way," the rabbit eared man said before grabbing the back of Ace's shirt and began dragging him off. "Jeez, how directionally challenged are you?" Ace just laughed good-naturedly as we followed him.

"I should probably get going, someone has to play referee and make sure those two don't kill each other," I told Blood. Huh, he really does look like that perverted rabbit.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh?" I asked oh so intelligently.

"You've been staring at me for quite awhile," Blood told me.

"Oh, I didn't mean to, you just look a lot like someone I know," I told him honestly.

"And here I thought you didn't like my face. But, seeing as you were watching me so intently, I must resemble your lover," Blood said while raising a hand to my face to stroke my cheek.

I shoved his hand away the moment it connected with my skin. "That's not it at all. Actually, I'm looking for him to hurt him for kidnapping me."

"It seems it's not a lie," Blood said. "I see, what a vulgar fellow."

"Vulgar?" I questioned. This one I've gotta' hear.

"He obviously fell in love with you. He went about it all the wrong way though. If it were me, I would never try to do something that would make a woman that stared at me so intently hate me. If someone were to look at me with eyes like yours, I would woo the woman in a way more befitting a gentleman than to do something so juvenile as kidnap her," Blood said softly.

I have to admit, I was touched a bit. Not many people at school even talk to me, much less try to say nice things. "Thank you." I found myself saying.

"I meant every word, if you were to look at me in that manner, that is how I would feel," Blood said, taking some of my hair into his hand and bringing it to his face.

I jumped back and landed at least three feet away. I gave him a sharp glare and tried a new trick, making the temperature drop. He shivered a bit and looked disappointed.

_Creepy but hot, _Miyori commented. _And kind of romantic. How's this sound, I get the guys and you die old and alone with thirty cats._

_One, he is more creepy then hot. Two, the hell is romantic about sniffing my hair?! And three, keep the guys, one day I'll find a guy better then your creepers and I won't have to worry about my husband poisoning my food or killing me in my sleep,_ I told her.

_But you admit he's hot, _Miyori said smugly.

_Is that really all you got out of my mental speech? _I asked her.

"Ah~ Hiyori! You're being hit on by the mafia boss!" Ace said, oddly cheerful.

"What are you saying?" Elliot asked. "She's not Blood's type!"

"Huh, you guys look good together," Ace commented and I fought the urge to smack all the males in the area. "Too bad, Hiyori is on her way to see Peter White."

"Meet Peter White?" Elliot asked, sounding a bit concerned now. "Why are you meeting with a man like him?"

"I have something to ask him," I told them. It's not a total lie, I do want to know why he brought me here but I won't protest if I can hit him a few, let's say, thousand times.

"Than I won't stop you," Blood said. "But, he's a dangerous man, be careful."

Dangerous? I wanted to ask how but I decided to save that question for another time. "Don't forget, I can take care of myself. I'm a lot stronger then I look."

Blood looked amused now. "Alright but if something were to happen, that knight would probably help you."

"We're almost at the castle," Elliot said suddenly. "Was your name Hiyori?"

"Yeah," I responded.

"You should come and stay with us next time," he said. "We will be sure to treat you as a guest. We'll be waiting."

The men walked off, leaving me alone with the knight. We walked across the drawbridge and were greeted by two identical women who appeared to have no faces. "Welcome back sir Ace. Welcome miss."

Ace greeted the women before continuing to lead me through the castle.

"Sir Peter is with the queen so let's go to the receiving room," Ace said.

I looked to the side and was surprised -and furious- at what I saw. "There's Peter White!" I announced.

"Hiyori!" the albino shouted happily. "I just knew you would come!"

He hopped over the railing and would've tackle-glomped me if I didn't raise my foot up so it connected with his face. He fell back and clutched his nose.

"Owwwww~ You're too rough," he whined.

"You there," a feminine voice called out. "Art thou a foreigner?"

"And you?" I asked back, my tone neutral.

"I am the Queen of Hearts, Vivaldi," the woman responded.

Nightmare

"Sunsets are quite pleasant. After all, it is our favorite time. We request you stay for tea Hiyori," the queen said.

"Hiyori," Ace whispered to me. "I'm heading back to Julius'."

Peter must've noticed that Ace was kind of close to me. "Back off Ace! You're too close to my Hiyori. Do you want to get shot?

Ace just calmly turned to go. "Sir Peter's so scary, I'm leaving! See you soon Hiyori!"

Peter was irked. "What's with that man? Isn't that rude?!"

"Quiet White, do you want to lose your head?" Vivaldi asked the albino who instantly quieted down.

_I guess I can't beat that pervert to a bloody pulp here, _I mentally conceded which made Miyori crow in happiness. _Hey, normally you're pretty quiet why are you so talkative now? _

_I dunno'. I guess it's because normally I go to different places where you can't hear me but now for some reason I can't go to my normal happy place, _Miyori explained and I could almost see her shrugging. Well, what I think she'd look like, I've never seen her in person. _Why do you want to hurt him anyway? He's hot!_

_Yeah and you're just as big of a pervert as he is. Where _do_ you go normally? _I asked her.

_Normally I dive into other people's hearts. It's not too hard, I just have to watch out for my drop time. When my drop time runs out, I fall asleep and then any darkness in the person's heart will migrate towards me. The last thing we need is for me to become corrupt, _she explained.

_Hmm, can you dive into anyone's heart? _I asked her._ And maybe find out things about that person?_

That's the basics of it but the less I know about he person, the shorter the drop time so it's not a good idea to let me try to go into a stranger's heart, she told me, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

I refocused on the conversation when I realized Vivaldi was talking to me. "An outsider like yourself will probably leave someday, but we will grant you permission to remain in this castle if you like."

"Thank you Vivaldi, but I'm already staying at the clock tower." I hope she can't tell that I only started to pay attention now. I don't think it's a good idea to start a fight here and now.

"Clock tower? You mean with Julius Monrey?" Peter scoffed, his ear twitching.

"You have already decided?" Vivaldi asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

Apparently, Peter disagreed with my neutral decision. "Don't be ridiculous! Please think it over Hiyori, it's still not too late to move here!"

_As if, _I thought while taking a sip of tea to prevent me from saying something rude in front of the person who could order an army to kill me.

"You do not need to force her to remain here, she may come and go as she wishes," Vivaldi told rabbit boy from behind her teacup.

"No, Hiyori should stay here can't you?" Peter asked.

I officially had enough. "If you keep behaving like a toddler then I'll do everything in my power to stay far, far, away from here if only to avoid someone who acts as childish as you."

His ears drooped and he mumbled a sorry. This is turning out a lot like when Kairi got a puppy for Christmas and I ended up being the one stuck with training it. Hmm, I wonder if there are any puppy training books around here, I'm sure they'll work nicely on the rabbit.

"Enough," Vivaldi commanded. "It is nighttime already, how dare it interrupt our time together. Any time other then sunset should never come."

I was curious about something as all scientists are. "By the way, is it normal for time to change randomly here?"

"Yes, no one ever knows what will come next. A role holder like us can change the time but there is a rule that says we can not change time without a good reason. As much as we dislike it, teatime has come to an end," Vivaldi explained.

I stood up and swayed slightly. "I have to leave and get back to the clock tower."

"You will not be able to make it to the clock tower like that. Rest at the castle." Vivaldi offered.

"Thanks, I think I'll do that for a bit," I accepted. With the way I'm swaying, it would be a wonder if I can make it to a bed. I guess I should've just taken a nap after magic practice.

"White," Vivaldi said sharply. "Take her to the guest room at once."

"Yes!" he responded, standing straight up with his ears pointing up as well.

As we walked through the halls (and I denied my urge to beat him within an inch of his life) I stumbled once.

"Careful now, you'll trip," he said, catching me before I could regain my balance.

"I could've caught myself, now let me go," I ordered him while fixing him with what was dubbed by many as the glare of death.

We made it to a door that looked a lot like the rest. "Please use this room. I would've taken you to my room but-"

"If you would've, I would've sawed your dick off with a rusty spoon," I remarked, my tone icy.

He flinched and looked panicked while his hands went to his crotch and his ears drooped. "No, I want you to like me." he whimpered.

"I would never like someone like you. You're a perverted stalker and the only reason why I haven't severely injured yet is the fact that I'm sure there are many soldiers in the place with many weapons and I don't have the energy to fight them all right now." I told him coldly.

He seemed unaffected. "That's right, I told myself the more I want to win, the harder it'll be. Even if it's not me. In the world you wished for, as long as you remain in this world. I'll let that go for now." he smiled at me. "Goodnight Hiyori, sweet dreams."

I shut my door and looked at my room for the night. I didn't really pay attention to most of the room, instead zeroing in on the large bed. I took a running leap onto the bed. Ah, perfect.

_Miyori, what the fuck did I miss when I wasn't paying attention to Vivaldi? _I asked the other girl.

_Apparently this world is the world you wished for but I'm in your mind 24/7 and I know that's bull. In this world, everyone will fall in love with foreigners which means you. I peeked in Peter's mind and noticed something strange, _Miyori said, her voice tinged with nervousness.

_What? Don't keep me waiting,_ I told her impatiently.

_Some parts of his mind are shut off. Normally this would just mean he has a mental disability but one of them worried me. His consciousness is shut off. I checked Vivaldi's, Ace's, and even Blood's and Elliot's and they all read the same. The reading's that of a person who's been asleep for a long time, _Miyori told me.

_Asleep? How could that be… _I trailed off as the scientific part of my brain started working. _Wait, we fell asleep too, right? That means, we're all asleep._

_In the same dream? _Miyori asked, her voice filled with wonder.

_Maybe, maybe not, I need my laptop, I'm sure it has info on this, _I told her as my eyes started to droop. _Hey, Miyori, what happens if we fall sleep in a dream?_

_Hmm, I guess we wake up, she told me._

I fell asleep only to be woken up moments later by someone shaking me. I groaned and opened my eyes to see the greatest thing in the worlds at that moment. I hugged Riku without the intent to kill for the first time.

"Whoa, you must've had some dream," he remarked.

I scanned his face for a second to confirm he was real. "You have no idea."

"Well, do you want to talk about it? It's not like I care or anything but Kairi wouldn't be happy if you get hurt because your mind's on some stupid dream," Riku said, pulling away from me.

I was a bit upset with myself that I let my emotions get away from me but I recovered. "No thanks, I'll be fine." Something seems… off about Riku. I'm not sure what but I'm gonna' find out.

"Are you sure?" he asked, concern flickering across his features. That's another thing, he never showed concern if he wants me to tell him something; he knows how I feel about pity. Something is seriously wrong with Riku, and I'm going to find out what.

I painted a fake smile on my face and shook my head. "Na, I'm fine."

"Alright," he seemed disappointed but it was only for a split second. If I wasn't as good at reading him as I am I would've missed it.

I ran back to my room, the manga from earlier grasped firmly in my hand. Something screwy is going on and I'm going to find out what.

* * *

me: I know Hiyori was ooc but considering she is pretty smart, I'm guessing she would be a bit mroe cautious in an unknown world that she didn't know how she ended up there. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but Hiyori's last name after being adopted by Kairi's family was changed legally to Hikari. Some people still call her Sarugaki though. I own nothing except my version of Miyori. Yes, she is a bit boy carzy in this but it's mainly for comedic relief. With my luck it's probably not very funny. There are hints at DDD so if you've played that game you know a bit about what's happened to the Heart no Kuni no Alice world. Once again, happy holidays!


	8. Happy Holidays!

me: Wow, two in one day, I've impressed myself. The reason why Hiyori's ooc in this one is because she's only been living with Kairi's family for a few months so she's still adjusting. I know Kairi's a bit too old to believe in Santa Clause but it was the only way this story wouldn't be only a thousand words. Happy holidays!

* * *

"Hiyori, wake up, it's time for school," Kairi told me.

I just groaned and shoved my head under the pillow while lashing out with my wood sword. I heard it smack against Kairi's and then a thump as she hit the ground from the force.

"Hiyori Hikari! We have to be at school in an hour and dad made breakfast. C'mon, it's our last day," Kairi told me.

I sat up and blearily rubbed my eyes. I hate mornings. I stood up and walked over to the closet we share, mumbling curse words in Latin the whole way. After getting clothes and taking a shower, I ran downstairs to my new 'family'. Kairi's parents adopted me a few months ago so technically they are my family now.

"So, Hiyori," Kairi's dad started. "Did you write your letter to Santa Clause yet? You know if you wait too long you won't get any presents."

"I thought Santa Clause wasn't real." Lie. I know he's not real.

Kairi gasped. "Hiyori! Don't say that or you'll not get any presents this year!"

"Then so be it, aren't you a little old to believe in Santa Clause anyway?" I asked her.

"Hiyori. Kairi, no fighting," Kairi's mom told us as she set a stack of pancakes on the table.

We muttered apologies that we didn't mean and sat down. Breakfast was fairly quiet and soon we were allowed to go to school. Well, Kairi was.

"Hiyori, we're planning on telling Kairi next year but can you please humor her this year," Kairi's mom requested.

I sighed but felt that small feeling of guilt nibbling at my mind. "Fine, I'll humor her this year but next year she's finding out even if I have to tell her. The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be."

Her parents sighed but agreed and I promised to write a letter to pretend to send to the North Pole. I set off for school with Kairi, who waited for me. We met up with Riku and Sora before Riku and I got into a fight. We ended up racing to school and I won that one so as a prize I made him write a letter to Santa as well. He groaned and complained but when I explained that it was just to humor Kairi he was a bit more willing.

School went by quick enough. It was the nineteenth which was exam day and a half day. I did have to endure one of Sora's thank you glomps seeing as I tutored him enough in math and science for him to pass midterms. After school, we all walked home and I told Kairi that I decided to write a letter to see if the old guy was real. A huge smile lit up her face and she practically dragged me home.

She ran up to our bed room, still dragging me with her. I did something rare for me, I smiled at her enthusiasm. She seemed so happy, even more then usual. I guess it won't be that bad to humor her this year.

"Ok, here's the nice paper I use to write my letters, you can borrow some," Kairi said while handing me a sheet of paper with a Christmas border on it and a pen. "Just write down whatever you want and make sure to thank Santa and explain who you are. He's so busy this time of year that he might've forgotten that you live here now."

"Alright, and I'll try to not be too rude," I told her.

She smiled at me again, that kind of smile that lit up her whole face. The only smile I can't find it in me to say no to. I just sighed and got to work, resigned to my fate.

Let's see, what do I want for Christmas? I peeked at Kairi's list and cursed when I saw the first item. Why me? Who did I piss off this time? I wrote down a few items that would make my life easier if the redhead did get the first thing. I thought for a few seconds before writing down that I want a Zippo Lighter and a hunting knife. I thought for another minute before writing a crossbow with arrows, a new pair of black fingerless gloves with red studs, and a new pair of durable flip flops for summer.

"What's the first item on your list?" Kairi asked me.

"Remember the lighter we saw in the store two weeks ago?" I responded.

"The one you were drooling over?" she asked giggling.

"I was not drooling," I protested. "What's the second item on your list?"

She bit her lip for a second. "A new wood sword, mine's getting really scuffed up."

I nodded. That plus some chocolate from the Sanders store in town equals a happy Kairi. Even if it does mean blowing two months' allowances on chocolate. Ten minutes later, I was done while Kairi kept writing.

"I'm just gonna' go and hand this to your 'rents so they can mail it," I told her while folding up the letter.

"Oh wait! Don't forget to put it in an envelope," Kairi said while handing me a Christmas red envelope.

I shrugged and put it in the envelope then used the wax seal maker that Kairi told me to use. I sighed again (I seem to be doing that a lot lately, I blame the fact that Riku put a shock collar on my neck once as revenge for when I yelled at him don't ask how he got it on me with the matching padlock) and ran down the stairs. I left the letter on the table where I knew Kairi's parents would find it.

I then ran back up the stairs and poked my head in the pink (Kairi's half), red, and black (my half) room. "Hey, red, I'm gonna' go down to the docks. Be there in ten minutes or less or I'll go to the islands without you."

"Right sarge!" she chirped, giving me a salute.

I just rolled my eyes, grabbed my sword, and jotted down a note saying that I left for the islands before taking off running down the block at a speed that would make me seem like a blur to most people. Ahh, there we go, I need an outlet for my energy. Whatever kind of life I had before, I obviously was used to using a lot of energy daily. I made it to Riku's house soon enough and rapped my knuckles on the door three times.

"Hey Blondie, ready to go?" the silver head asked while stepping out onto his porch with his sword in his hand.

"Yeah, I told Kairi ten minutes and I already used a minute to get here. Want to race to Sora's?" I asked him.

He shrugged. See, when he's quiet we get along just fine. It's when he opens up his mouth that's the problem. "Sure sounds good." He didn't let me say anything, he just started running.

I shook my head at his sorry attempt to get a head start. He knows I'm the fastest out of the three of us. I took off after him and caught up with him with a little bit of effort on my part. I slowed down to the point that I would touch Sora's door a second or two before the other teen. I touched my fingertips to the blue door just before the silver head who glared at me. I smirked at him and knocked on the door to the tune of Jingle Bells, knowing the brunette will be more willing to come out if it has anything to do with Christmas.

Sure enough, less then a minute later Sora opened the door with a grin on his face and a wood sword in his hand. "By mom, I'll be back before dark!" He turned to us. "To the islands?"

"Yeah, want to race to the docks?" Riku asked the chipper spiky haired boy.

"Sounds great! Hiyori?" he asked.

"One," they got into positions. "Two," they made eye contact with each other. "Go!" they took off.

I ran after them and passed them. I kept running at top speed until I reached the docks. Seconds later they reached the docks, Sora barely pulling ahead of Riku.

"Spike one, Albino nothing'," I said while getting the boat ready. Sora whooped in glee while Riku glared at the calm ocean.

The boys got their boats ready and we were set to sail right as Kairi jogged up. "Hey, ready to go?"

"Yeah, get in I'll make sure it doesn't tip," I told her.

She climbed in the wooden boat and I followed.

"Race?" Riku asked.

"Na uh," I told him while beginning to paddle. "you can flip yourselves over again, just let me get my camera out first."

The boys shrugged. Sure enough, less then half way there, the boys' boats flipped and I got a few nice pictures of the boys. We got to the islands and Riku and I got into our daily fist fight/wrestling match. After we were both thoroughly bruised and tired out, we rested for a while before Sora and Riku started their sword fight. Kairi and I snuck off the other side of the island to train with our swords.

We went back to the main island as the sun was setting and made it back to our houses just before dinner. The rest of the night Kairi kept talking about how excited she was for Christmas. It's going to be a long week.

* * *

A few days after I wrote the letter, we went to get a Christmas tree. Honestly, why anyone would want to bring a tree into the house I will never know. Of course Riku tagged along to buy his Christmas tree.

"_This tradition is stupid," _I am so happy we both took French.

"_Yeah but we'll both be in huge trouble if we don't suck it up. Just be grateful Snaggletooth, I've gotta' carry the damn thing home," _Riku grumbled as he adjusted the Santa hat Kairi gave him.

Once we got to the tree lot, it was a matter of what tree to pick.

"I want a tree two Hiyori's tall, the should equal what, six feet?" Riku asked.

I punched him in the stomach and took great joy in his pained grunt. Riku ended up picking out a five foot tall one while we were still stuck looking. I wandered to the back of the lot and saw the perfect tree. I circled it a few times and smiled slightly when I saw that there were no branchless spots. I checked the height and saw it was a bit taller then me, it was probably around five foot which was the height we were looking for so it seems perfect. I was about to leave the area and come back with Kairi's parents but I saw something that would've made a lesser being's blood run cold.

Nerckle Shang is the meanest sixth grader anyone would ever have the displeasure of meeting. I got into a fight once with the three foot tall demon and it was considered a draw. I did end up limping back to the house that night and my arms and legs were covered in bandages from all the bloody bites and scratches that covered me. Most kids stay as far away from the midget as possible, even Riku tries to discreetly avoid Nerckle.

His eyes narrowed at me and I returned the gesture. He obviously was still pissed that I dislocated his shoulder and broke a few of his fingers. I reached for the sword hanging at my belt only to curse when I realized that Kairi confiscated it. I do not want to deal with this today.

_Feel like making a deal with the devil? _Miyori asked me. _I'll take care of everything and I'll even make sure the son of a bitch is still breathing. You don't want to ruin Kairi's Christmas do you?_

I sighed, knowing I'm going to regret this later. _Fine, do it, but keep it quiet._

I felt power flow through my veins and my eyes stung a bit.

Nerckle flinched back. "Wh-what are you?"

My mouth moved on its own. "Do you really want to know?"

He must've been freaked by something because he held up his hands and left the area. The power flowed back out of my body and I was left worn out. I grabbed the tree and awkwardly positioned it on my back. I made my way to where Kairi's family was checking out a tree and set the one on my back right in front of them.

They were ecstatic that I was doing something Christmassy and bought the tree immediately. We tied it to the top of the car and drove home. We dragged the tree inside and put it in the tree stand that Kairi's mom produced from who knows where.

Once again Kairi went into Christmas mode and I was just happy that I was allowed online with my headphones so I listened to music on youtube.

Now if only I could get the Twelve Day of Christmas (apparently Kairi's favorite Christmas song) out of my head.

* * *

Today we were decorating the tree. Joy. Kairi invited Sora and Riku over so at least Riku and I could complain in French. I reached up to put an ornament on a high branch and just secured it when I felt a weight settle on my head. I reached up and felt the soft texture of a Santa hat. I turned around and saw Kairi giving me the puppy dog look.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" I asked her tiredly.

She smiled angelically. "Nope."

She skipped off to get another ornament. I just adjusted my hat and shook my head. She's going to keep trying to include me until she makes me smile. She tried the same thing on Thanksgiving but it didn't work then, won't work now.

* * *

Three, two, one! I mentally counted down before I tackled the silver head who just moved into the perfect position. I hit him with enough force that we both flew into the bushes on the other side of the steps Riku was walking down.

"What the hell?" Riku questioned then he saw the look in my eyes. "What's wrong with you?"

I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what I was about to say. "I need your help getting Kairi's Christmas present."

"I'm not the only one who has no ideas on Christmas eve?" Riku asked looking relieved.

"Actually I was going to go to this sweet shop in the less friendly part of town. Kairi's rent's have to work today but they said I can go if I bring you along," I explained.

"Let me in on the gift and it's a deal," he proposed.

I shook his hand and we set off for Sanders. We made it there about and hour and a half before dark and entered the store. I think I drooled a bit but you would too if you saw that place. After blowing a few months' allowance I was set for Christmas. I already made Kairi a new sword so she wouldn't have to keep using my old one and now I have a few stocking stuffers.

"Hey, Riku, catch," I told him while pulling a wrapped package out of my backpack. "Merry Christmas."

He tossed a package similar in size to me and repeated the traditional phrase. "Merry Christmas Snaggletooth."

We went our separate ways and I put the gift he gave me under the tree. I ran up to the shared room and locked the door so Kairi couldn't come in without noticing. I took out a box and slipped the sword in then tightly packed tissue paper in the empty space so she can't shake it around. I took one last look at the sword I stained to look like a darker wood. I had carved kanji into it so it said her name on one side and 'princess' on the other. I put the lid on and secured it with tape. I wrapped the two boxes of sweets in the Christmas wrapping paper and ran downstairs to put the gifts in place. I just managed to shove the sweets in the red and pink stocking when Kairi entered the room. She put a few things in each stocking but her own and laid two gifts under the tree before sitting down on the couch and turning on one of the much dreaded Christmas movies.

Oh, right, it's Christmas eve. That means constant Christmas movies. Someone shoot me.

* * *

"Hiyori! Hiyori! Wake up! Santa came!" Kairi shouted with all the enthusiasm of a five year old.

I threw her off with ease and rolled over. Christmas can wait until I can walk straight. Damn Riku and his half alcohol eggnog drinking contest.

When Kairi jumped on me again, I wrapped an arm around her and pinned her to the bed. She stopped struggling a few moments later until something sharp and hard entered my arm.

"Ow damn it!" I shouted, leaping away from the red head. "Did you bite me?!"

She looked sheepish. "Maybe? Sorry. Um, Hiyori, you're bleeding."

I ran to the bathroom and rinsed the teeth shaped wound off. I quickly wiped it down with a disinfectant wipe and taped a piece of gauze to it. Well, at least she can get away if someone tries to hold her down.

I walked down the stairs and saw a big box with a bow on top. I turned to Kairi's parents and mouthed 'you didn't'. They nodded. Why me?

We opened presents and every time Kairi got anywhere near the big box that whimpers were coming from, I slapped her hand. According to Kairi's parents the pup just went out before Kairi and I headed down and there were air holes. I hadn't opened any presents yet so Kairi chose to remedy the situation.

I blinked when a small, light box landed on my lap.

Kairi just smiled. "Open it."

I shook my head but opened it as she requested. Inside were a pair of gloves, exactly like the ones that got torn up a few weeks ago. I smiled slightly and decided to join in the fun. I actually got most of the items on my list. In each weapon box, however, was a note that requested that I please not kill anyone. Finally, I reached my last three gifts. The first one I opened was from Sora. He gave me a new pair of armored tennis shoes that looked just like the old ones that recently joined my old gloves in the trash pile. Riku's gift made me laugh. It seems great mind do think alike seeing as he got me an antique set of sai*. I can honestly say I enjoyed Kairi's gift the most. She got me lighter I wanted. I'm not quite sure how she managed to convince her parents but I really don't care.

Finally, it was time to open the big gift. Kairi took the lid off and saw that it was one of those boxes that the sides came down on. I groaned and a hyper, drooling, ball of fluff ran out and right into Kairi's leg.

I walked over to Kairi's parents. "Did you get the obedience book?" they nodded. "Choke collar?" another nod. "Retractable leash?" nod. "A receipt?" they shook their heads no. "Damn."

* * *

*sai are Japanese short swords and actually look pretty wicked.

Hiyori: Why do I have to say it?

me: Because you're the main character.

Hiyori: As I should be. Hn, fine. Happy holidays hages.

The whole cast: Happy holidays!


	9. Pirates and Betrayals

I own nothing. Ultima Owner, no one gave the pup sugar but I just remember when I got a puppy once for Christmas he was very hyper.

* * *

The day started out normally enough. Wake up, almost smash that damn alarm clock, breakfast, quick training session, shower then report to the great hall for our mission. We were told to go to somewhere called Neverland. I don't know why, but it sounded familiar to me. It probably doesn't matter. We went through the portal as usual and when I saw the pirate ship we came out on, I was hit by a strong sense of déjà vu.

It's been a day since the last mission and my strange dream. I did some research on sleeping worlds and the laptop proved useless in the aspect. I went over the dream again and again, committing it to memory. Things were too real to be just another dream but if it was real, then what is going on? Aside from that, Riku's been acting odd lately. I think he might be sick but I can read him too well and I would've noticed by now. I can't dwell on it right now though. As much as it pains me to agree with that idiot, I do have to focus on the damn mission.

Just being on this ship gave me a bad feeling, like I'm in the den of a lion and trying to steal a cub. I get the same feeling every time I walk through the halls of the castle. On the upside, I don't get seasick.

Maleficent introduced us to some idiot who gives the color red a bad name. Honestly, who's named after what takes the place of his missing hand? Captain James Hook is one of the stupidest, most idiotic dumbasses I have ever met. And we're supposed to work with this loser! I'd almost rather take the creepy stalker rabbit. Key word: almost.

He apparently ditched his crew for a bunch of weakling heartless. Bad decision. Heartless' only advantage over others is that they have numbers. However, one great soldier is worth hundreds of lesser ones*1. Hook's only redeeming quality was with his sword and even that was a weakness in itself seeing as he's not well rounded. I can see why Maleficent made an alliance with him. He's strong enough to have a chance at winning against powerful opponents but he's weak enough to be taken out if necessary.

I've gotta' give her props on her strategy (ow! Complimenting her, it burns!).

"Hiyori," Riku said, startling me out of my trance like state. I turned around to face him, my back now to the ocean. "Maleficent wants to speak to us."

I nodded, my face uniformly blank. We walked to the captains quarters where Kairi's unconscious body was. Riku stood over her while I leaned against the wall. Maleficent soon entered the room through an inky portal.

"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked. I heard about the mission to the giant whale and apparently there was a puppet with a heart that got swallowed up with his 'father'.

"Precisely," Maleficent said in that tone that is only used when trying to get people to do what you want.

"And her heart was…" Riku trailed off.

"Taken by the heartless, no doubt," Maleficent responded.

"Tell me, what can I do?" Riku asked desperately.

"Find the seven maidens of the purest heart. Gather them together and you will open up a door to the heart of all worlds," Maleficent started.

"Kingdom Hearts," Riku finished.

"Exactly my boy. Within lies untold wisdom. There you shall surely find a way to restore Kairi's heart. Now I shall give you a marvelous gift," she began waving her hands. "the power to control the heartless."

My eyes widened. I've been not really paying attention until now. I jumped in front of Riku and glared at her while putting up a barrier to stop the dark spell.

"Hiyori! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Riku asked angrily.

That made me pause. What the fuck? I save him from the darkness and this is the thanks I get? "I just saved your ass dick head!"

"Hiyori, I need to become stronger to help Kairi! Don't you want that?" Riku shouted back.

The logical part of my brain shut down and I saw red. "Fine! Do whatever the fuck you want, I don't care anymore, give up your heart to the darkness for all I care. I'm leaving!"

I started towards the door but two pirate heartless blocked my path. "Hiyori," Riku's cold voice started. "If you leave, don't come back."

"Don't worry." I slashed through the heartless like a warm knife through butter. "I won't."

I kicked down the door startling Hook as I stormed onto the deck.

"Just what is wrong with you brat?" he asked, disdain clear in his tone.

I snarled. "Mind your own goddamn business before I make you walk your own fucking plank so you can join your hand in that croc's gut ya' old codfish!"

I guess I must of made an impression on him this time seeing as he scurried back to whatever hole he crawled out of. Good riddance. I walk up to a pillar and started hacking away at it with Kubiriki Orochi. My wild swings calmed me considerably to the point of I realized what I had done. I betrayed my sister and broke our promise. Damn it all to hell, today just isn't going my way.

Before my thoughts could go any further, a trap door opened up beneath me and, seeing as today sucks, I didn't react quick enough and fell on my ass several floors below. I rubbed my sore butt for a second before standing up and growling. This room had to be about three foot by four foot at most and a quarter of that was being used to store cargo.

I knew it wouldn't do me much good if I charged up there and demanded to know why the fuck I just was locked below deck. After calming a bit, just to the point that there would be no burials at sea today, I turned the doorknob and was unsurprised to find it locked. I reached into my shirt and bra and grabbed the small lock picking kit that I kept hidden there for situations like this. Hey, be prepared for anything or suffer the consequences. The lock was a tricky one and took me almost two minutes to pick; a considerable amount of time considering it normally doesn't take me more then a minute to pick harder locks.

I smirked as I heard the slight click. I put away the tool and tension wrench and tried the door. My smirk disappeared. The handle moved just fine but the door was stuck. I took a few steps back before charging at it, slamming into it with my shoulder. The wood splintered and the armor on my shoulder protected the joint. My smirk returned. Two more shoves later, the door gave way. I realized I had been in that room for a while now. Probably long enough for Maleficent to poison Riku.

I'll fix it in the end though, I've gotta'.

I heard a loud crash coming from my left and decided to check it out. I jumped off the platform I was on and landed on the wood below. A few heartless appeared and I dispatched them with ease. There was another door on the lower section of the large room I was in so I opened it.

"Oh, it's you," I said dryly.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were tangled up in a pile. Well, they were until I surprised them.

"Hiyori," Sora said with awe, reaching out a hand to touch my face.

I batted it away. "Touch me only if you think you'll enjoy life as a eunuch."

He withdrew his hand quickly. "You weren't with Riku, I… I didn't know what to think."

I bonked him on the head. "Well I think I'm insulted. Did you really think that I couldn't take care of myself?"

He scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Hehe, sorry Hiyori. Oh, did you know that Kairi's here?"

My eyes dropped to the floor. "Yeah, hey Sora?"

"Yeah?" he answered, showing his goofy grin.

I took a deep breath. This is gonna' crush the idiot. "Kairi's heart's missing. Maleficent says it was taken by the heartless but I'm not so sure."

"Wh-what do you mean Kairi's heart is missing?" he asked, his face dropping.

"It went missing when we were taken from the islands. I'm not a hundred percent sure what happened to it. I've seen someone's heart be taken before and their body disappears with it usually. Something doesn't add up here Sora, and Maleficent is using Riku," I told him.

"Now wait just a minute," the duck started, getting in between us. Oh, bad move. "You're working with Maleficent!"

I glared daggers at him. If only looks could kill. "I _used_ to be, note the past tense. I didn't think she was that bad until recently."

The duck looked annoyed but Sora hushed him.

"So, you're going to help us?" Sora asked.

I glanced at his new friends before grabbing Sora's arm and pulling him into the larger room, shutting the door behind us.

"Sora, the reason why I haven't been helping you is that I promised Kairi I'd make sure Riku doesn't get into too much trouble. I've failed though, so I might as well help you," I explained to him.

He must've sensed how serious I was being because he just nodded, his usual smile absent.

We returned to the room and saw the duck and dog talking to a boy covered head to toe in green. It looks like people here are incapable of wearing more then one color. He introduced himself as Peter Pan and said something about me seeming familiar but I didn't pay him any attention. I was in my 'thinking mode' as Sora dubbed it where I only pay half attention to most of the things going on around me. Right now the topic of debate between my evil twin, Miyori, and I was where the hell is Kairi's heart? Miyori told me she had a few theories but nothing concrete. You can imagine how irritated I was at her for not having any answers for me. Peter tried to get us to fly by sprinkling some pixie dust on us, but it didn't work.

We made our way through the ship, me picking locks here and there and killing heartless, until we got to a room with a grate covering part of the ceiling. Apparently, some girl named Wendy was up there and Peter wanted to rescue her. My attention was briefly snagged when it was revealed that Kairi was up there too but I knew trying to get her attention was hopeless. After the pirates dragged both girls away, we climbed up through a whole in another grate and made our way to the room that held the girls a few moments ago. We knew the chances of Kairi and Wendy still being there were slim but that didn't stop Sora from being a bit disappointed.

I looked at the ceiling and noticed a trap door. I smirked and moved behind Sora before jumping on his back and climbing on his shoulders.

"Whoa," he said, stumbling slightly before regaining his balance.

"Hold still Sora, I think I just found our way out of here," I told him, summoning my key blade and hooking it onto the ladder. I repositioned myself so my feet were on his shoulders and I was crouching. Before he could complain about it hurting, I jumped off and brought the ladder down along with the trap door.

"Nice job Hiyori!" Sora said, applauding my ingenuity.

Peter and the dog both gave me thumbs up but the duck only looked slightly impressed. I don't care what they think though, my only job is to get my sister back and to smack some sense into Riku while I'm at it. We climbed the ladder and arrived in the captain's quarters. I noticed my sister was absent but that was no surprise. Can't blame me for trying though.

We turned around only to see Riku carrying Kairi bridal style.

"Riku wait!" Sora cried out as Riku backed away.

I started running towards him but was slashed across my face by a set of shadow claws. I leapt back, clutching my bleeding face and muttered a quick purifying spell to keep it from scarring. I heard a door close and snarled when I realized Riku just left. I took a good look at what hit me and my eyes widened at what looked to be a shadow version of Sora.

It charged us and I instinctively brought my key blade up to block. Damn, that thing's fast and hits hard. Sora and his group jumped into action. The dog was using his shield to hit it while the duck was using magic. Bird Boy (Peter Pan) was flying around and slashing at the thing. Sora was a bit more creative. He's gotten a lot stronger since the last time I saw him. Using a combination of magic and physical attacks, he easily knocked it back, After a few minutes that felt like hours of hammering on the thing, it melted into the floor and split into three parts. I stretched my senses out and felt for which one was the strongest. I whacked it with my blade and the others were dispelled. A few minutes later, the shadow-Sora was dead and melted into the floor before disappearing altogether. He left behind a Raven's Feather which was a magic item that could be used to increase stamina and strength. Sora probably had found a bunch of magic items like that seeing as he let me keep this one. I tucked it into the armor on my shoulder and turned to see Bird Boy picking up the girl from earlier- Wendy.

"Wendy!" he exclaimed. A fairy started to fly around his head. "Come on Tink, not now. Well, this is as far as I can go. I've gotta' help Wendy." He flew off through a window, the unconscious Wendy in his arms.

I scoffed. "Well that was nice of him, we help him, he gets his girl back and we get zip." My voice practically dripped with sarcasm.

We turned to the door and stepped out onto the deck. The deck was empty except for the idiotic moron of a captain and a few pirate heartless.

"Quite a codfish that Riku, running off with that girl without even saying goodbye," Hook said while trying to look imposing. Slender Man scares me more then this dumbass will ever.

"Run off where? Tell me, where did he go?" Sora demanded. I almost face palmed at this pathetic attempt to get information

"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion where Maleficent resides," Hook commented with distaste. "But you won't be going there." He held up a lantern with the Fairy replacing the light. "Unless you intend to leave your pixie friend behind."

Sora looked down and got rid of his silver and gold key blade. I didn't dispel mine however simply because I wanted to be ready to fight if need be. Pirate heartless surrounded us but I didn't move.

"Hand over the key blade and I'll spare your lives," Hook said, trying to come off as a bloodthirsty pirate.

"How's about we kick your ass and maybe spare your life?" I swear my pride made me say that.

He got angry at that. "Then I guess you'll all have to walk the plank! Starting with your little boyfriend miss Hikari."

I nearly puked at that and made no attempt to hide the revulsion on my face. "Gross! I wouldn't date Sora on a bet!"

"Jeez, thanks Hiyori," Sora said. Wow, I didn't know he knew how to be sarcastic.

"For what?" I managed to ask innocently as a pirate heartless began to push him towards the plank by pressing the cutlass into the brunette's back.

Hook looked towards the plank and saw a large crocodile.

"It's him! The crocodile that took me hand!" Hook shouted, now terrified at a reptile that couldn't even reach him. "Oh Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here! Go away! Oh I can't stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!"

And with that, the oh so fearless captain retreated to his quarters, leaving us with an incompetent first mate and a bunch of wimpy heartless. The heartless backed Sora onto the plank with a hungry croc below. I was about to jump in and do something (still not quite sure what) but I heard a voice that stopped me in my tracks.

"Fly, Sora! Just believe and you can do it!" Peter's voice wafted down from above.

I studied Sora's face for any trace of fear but found none as he closed his eyes. He then jumped backwards off of the plank and presumably to his doom. Just before the croc got his dinner, Sora flew up into the air. I smirked at the hovering teen. Way to go moron.

Peter swooped down and grabbed the lantern-cage that was imprisoning Tinkerbell from Smee (Hook passed the lantern to him before the coward ran back to his cabin). Both boys landed and Peter set Tink free.

"Thanks Peter," Sora told the redhead.

"Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?" Peter replied with a smile.

Smee fled the deck, leaving us alone with a bunch of wimpy heartless and a few new ones that I've never seen before. It wasn't particularly hard to get rid of them but I was a bit disappointed that I was the only one that couldn't fly. When Peter told me to think happy thoughts and to believe, I was tempted to scoff. I haven't been happy or really believed in anything in a while. I'm a scientist, we aren't really into the whole blind faith thing.

After the fight, we went to the door that Hook was hiding behind. Peter rapped on the door three times.

"Is that you Smee? Did you finish them off?" Hook asked.

Peter snickered slightly before pinching his nose and doing a perfect imitation of the dorky first mate. "Aye captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them." It was my turn to snicker now.

We pressed ourselves flat against the wall as the idiot in red charged out, past us, and started to look around. I cocked my head to the side while summoning my blade. Peter grinned and nodded. I thrust the sword forward, making one of the sharp tips connect roughly with his ass. He jumped about six feet into the air, an earsplitting yell coming out of his mouth.

After landing, he started ranting like the moron he is before charging.

I blocked a powerful slash that would've spilled my brains out on the deck if I didn't block it in time. I smirked cheekily. "Oh, you're done complaining now princess?"

And the fight was on. Hook was a good swordsman, but Sora and I were better. Donald, Goofy, and Peter took care of the heartless flying around and kept them from annoying us. Hook's strikes were fast and powerful. He also threw small explosives that stung like a bitch. All in all, he was a pain to fight. He was a good challenge though. He had a tendency to start slashing and not stop while running at us. We figured out if one of us blocked, the other could hit him from behind.

Mainly, we just hit him. His defense was good but while he was busy counterattacking one of us, the other would give him a good whack. Once, we hit him into the water. He shot up out of the water like a bullet, clutching his butt as if the croc bit it. I got a few pictures of that to laugh at later. We also tried using a fire spell on him and had a laugh when he ran around the deck clutching his burning butt. We learned that if we blocked one of his slashes, we could easily smack him around a bit.

Finally, we knocked him into the water and he swam away instead of climbing back onto the ship. The heartless were taken care of and I let a small smile slip onto my face. Sora and I make a decent team. Even if we do make a good team, we didn't make it out unscathed. Sora had a few nicks along his arms and a deep cut on his left shoulder. The cut on my face from shadow Sora earlier was reopened on me and joined a deep cut on my arm and a slice across my abdomen.

I smirked slightly at the sight of Sora and his group celebrating.

"You did good," a voice said from behind me.

I turned around and saw Peter floating upside down, a strange smile on his face.

"Thanks I guess, but I still got a little banged up," I commented.

"Yeah but, you can heal yourself right?" he asked and I remembered I did it earlier after the encounter with shadow Sora.

"Unfortunately no, that fight was a little tiring," I responded, scowling at me having to admit weakness.

"Oh, well, let me help you out," Peter said, fishing a potion out of the small bag on his belt. "I don't do this kid of thing for just anyone you know."

I took the potion. "Um, thanks. Well, I don't accept help from just anyone so we're even."

He grinned and nodded. I smiled slightly. He reminded me of someone. I can't really remember who, I can just remember a bright smile, deep blue eyes, and a feeling of loss. I banished these thoughts from my head and drank the potion. It was cool but potions stay cool even in the desert. It was sweet and reminded me of the fruit smoothies we would get after school. Apparently they taste different to everyone. Riku told me his tasted like cinnamon once. I felt the majority of the cuts close up. The one across my face way healed completely and the one on my arm scabbed over. The deep slash along my abdomen stopped bleeding thankfully and I could feel my strength coming back. I'd still have to heal later, but the potion helped a lot.

"Hey Hiyori," Sora interrupted. "Are you going to be traveling with us now?"

A dark portal opened up near us just as I began to think of a response.

"There's your answer. I still have to protect Riku from himself. I did promise Kairi I'd stick with him. Sorry Sora," I told him, facing the portal.

He was stunned. I could see why, I rarely apologize to anyone but he knows when I do it's sincere. I gave them a short wave before entering the evil looking portal. I held my breath as usual and ran. The shadows seemed to claw at me, trying to pull me into their depths. I snagged my foot on something and nearly tripped but kept going. It seems so much easier when Riku's with me. I guess that's because I can't look weak in front of that moron.

I finally made it to the other side and collapsed, gasping for air. I cursed as I noticed more blood seeping through my shirt. So much for the potion.

I struggled to my feet, my exhaustion and injuries finally catching up to me. I realized I was in my room and that there was a note on my bed along with a hefty first aid kit. I scanned over the note and grimaced when I noticed it was from Riku and he didn't seem to happy. It serves the ass right though. He sicked that thing on me! If anyone has a right to be angry, it's me! I growled, the note clutched tight in my grasp igniting. I forced myself to calm down and strip.

I took a nice hot shower to clean the blood off before heading back into my room to clean the wounds with antiseptic. It made them sting even worse, but I knew it was necessary. After the painful antiseptic treatment, I groaned when I realized I still wasn't charged up enough to use magic to heal myself. I went back into my bathroom and carefully bandaged the large cut on my forehead. It shouldn't scar as long as I can use a healing spell soon. The one on my arm was looking decent, I just put a generous amount of Neosporin on it and wrapped a bandage around it snugly. I took a look at the one on my abdomen and winced.

Ooh, that's gonna' scar. I then realized that I had another scar completely circling my stomach. Huh, how did I never notice it before? A sharp pain flashed through my head, down through my body, and back again. A sword that stretched to cut me in half. A man with silver man grinning. Intense pain. A blond guy catching me. Then the bliss of unconsciousness.

_Miyori, _I called out tentatively_. Do you remember before I lost my memories?_

Her response was little more then a whisper. _Yes, but if I told you before, then things would've been a lot worse. I swear to you on everything that matters to me that I'll explain everything later. _

_You'd better_, I responded, sounding more tired then angry. Today's been a really long day and I just want it to end. I can't deal with her right now.

I wrapped a bandage around the gash and then got dressed in my usual clothes. I threw the bloody and torn ones in the trash and quickly packed a few fresh ones into the backpack. I put the laptop, the Ipod, and a few other objects that I felt that I should pack. I have a bad feeling and it doesn't seem willing to go away anytime soon.

I shouldered my pack and took one last look in the mirror. I expected that I'd look like a mess, that's what I feel like anyway. I feel betrayed and hurt and angry. I looked cool, composed, and calm. It feels like there's a weight on my shoulders. I know this meeting won't be pleasant. I fought with 'the enemy' after all. I felt like running away and not coming back, but that's just not who I am. I squared my shoulders and started the walk to the grand hall. It felt like hours when in actuality, it was only a few minutes. I finally reached the large room and entered, ready to take whatever my closest friend would dish out.

I kept my eyes to the ground, avoiding looking at the sleeping princesses. They were all here, behind panes of glass like dolls in a collectors case. I almost ran up the stair case and arrived at the keyhole that oozed dark energy. Riku was staring at it, his back to me.

"What were you thinking on that ship?" Riku asked me, still refusing to look at me.

"I could ask you the same thing, you sicked that _thing _on me! What the hell Riku?!" I yelled, my anger getting the better of me.

"You sided with the enemy!" he accused turning to face me.

"When did your best friend become the enemy?!" I shouted back.

He looked taken aback for a second before regaining his previous anger. "He doesn't need us Hiyori! He's replaced us! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?!"

"What about you?! You're to pigheaded to see that if we worked together, then we'd have Kairi's heart back in no time!" I fired back.

"You still want to help her? With the way you're acting, I never would've guessed," he said now calm, dooming himself.

My sword was in my hand before I knew it and if almost took his head off. He raised his sword just in time to block. I felt something odd cover part of my face, like a thick goo or something, but I didn't care.

_Umm, boss? You might wanna' tone it down a bit,_ Miyori, ever the voice of reason, said nervously as more of the goo cover the right half of my face to stretch over my eye.

I didn't hear her though, I was to pissed at Riku.

The silver head's eyes widened at the thing slowly covering my face and I slashed again, him having to jump back to dodge it. He kept blocking and dodging my fast and strong strikes, barely keeping up with me. I finally had enough with the overgrown brat and fainted to the left only to burry my sword in his shoulder. Nothing his witch wouldn't be able to heal.

I stepped back and took the mask, now complete, off my face. I saw him, on the floor and bleeding, clutch his right shoulder and look at me in disbelief.

"Grow up," I spit. "I'm going to go and calm down for a bit, we can try having this talk again later, minus the weapons and shouting."

I left the shocked boy in the room and went to one of the only places where I felt calm. I sat on the cliff and shut my eyes. I slowly breathed in and out, the tension gradually flowing from my body. I cleared my mind to meditate a bit more properly and relaxed. It soon hit me what I had done. When Riku and I talk later, we're going to have to clear things up otherwise our friendship might just be ruined forever.

A shadow settled over me and I twisted around. The witch was there but I didn't feel like dealing with her right now.

"Look, I have to go talk to Riku," I told her while beginning to get up. I didn't notice the smirk on her face but I did notice the pressure of her kicking me off the cliff to freefall to my doom.

I really should've gone to the underground caverns.

* * *

That was pretty fun to write actually.

*1 Napoleon proved this fact when he led his armies against armies twice as large and won.

I hope I got Hiyori a little more IC in this chapter. I had one other thing to say but now I've forgotten it. Enjoy the cliff hanger! Reveiw please.


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